Mercury X1

A person in a lab coat and VR equipment stands next to a wheeled humanoid robot with a tablet display for a head.
Using VR to control Mercury. Photo: Elephant Robotics

Mercury X1 is a versatile robot with a humanoid torso and a wheeled mobile base. It can navigate autonomously and perform manipulation tasks using its high precision arms. It's designed for research and education, commercial services, and smart home applications.

Creator

Elephant Robotics

Year
2023
Country
China 🇨🇳
Categories
Features

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Did you know?

Mercury X1 has two siblings: Mercury B1, which has no wheels, and Mercury A1, which has only one arm.

Mercury X1, a humanoid robot with two robotics arms uses grippers to manipulate test tubes.
Mercury the scientist. Photo: Elephant Robotics

History

Elephant Robotics, founded in 2016 in Shenzhen, China, specializes in robot research and development, AI software tools for robotics, and intelligent manufacturing platforms. The company has a diverse range of robots aimed at education, research, and commercial applications. Its products include educational and professional collaborative robots (cobots) and companion robotic pets.

In 2023, Elephant introduced the Mercury Series, which features the Mercury X1 wheeled humanoid robot, designed specifically for embodied AI research and deployment in commercial settings. The Mercury X1 integrates multiple sensing and computing technologies to enable capable and versatile operations. With a total of 19 degrees of freedom, it features lightweight harmonic drives and dual robotic arms that can maintain the precision required for complex motion control, with 0.05 mm repeatability. Its compact, maneuverable mobile platform is capable of handling slopes and small obstacles. The robot is powered by NVIDIA's Jetson Xavier for onboard AI processing, and includes a suite of sensors that includes LIDAR, ultrasonic modules, and camera systems.

Elephant also emphasizes Mercury's software interoperability and accessibility. It supports a wide array of programming environments like Python and C++, and integrates with leading robotics software platforms like ROS, Gazebo, and Mujoco. The robots also feature a user-friendly interface for task programming, support for both 2D and 3D vision, and VR teleoperation and speech recognition.

Building on prior work with models like myCobot and myBuddy, the Mercury Series reflects Elephant's focus on scalable robot platforms through embodied AI, modular design, and ease of deployment. With the Mercury X1, the company offers a system designed to move beyond prototype demonstrations and support practical tasks in real-world environments — complete with a touchscreen head that smiles back at you.

Mercury X1, a wheeled humanoid robot with a tablet display head, uses its two robotic arms with attachments for massaging on a person lying on a table.
Take a deep breath and relax. Photo: Elephant Robotics
Mercury X1, a wheeled humanoid robot with a tablet display for a head holds a vacuum with one gripper hand.
Time to clean! Photo: Elephant Robotics

Specs

Overview

Robust mobile base equipped with LIDAR. Embodied AI software with large language models (LLMs). 2D/3D computer vision combined with motion planning, obstacle avoidance, and autonomous navigation. 7 DoF dual arm configuration with 1-kg payload, 450 mm reach, and 0.05 mm repeatability.

Status

Ongoing

Year

2023

Website
Width
30 cm
Height
118 cm
Length
46 cm
Weight
55 kg
Speed
4 km/h
Sensors

Mobile base with cameras, LIDAR, 3D vision, ultrasonic sensors, microphones.

Actuators

High performance servo motors and harmonic drive modules.

Degrees of Freedom (DoF)
19 DoF (Arm: 7 DoF x 2; Head: 1 DoF; Camera in the jaw: 1 DoF; Waist: 1 DoF; Mobile base: 2 DoF)
Materials

Carbon fiber, aluminum alloy, ABS plastic

Compute

Main computer with NVIDIA Jetson Xavier 21 TOPS 8 GB RAM. Additional ESP32 microcontrollers controlling each arm.

Software

Python, C++, ROS, Moveit, Gazebo and Mujoco.

Power

3 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, 6 to 8 hours of operation

Cost
US $15,999