NEURA Robotics Set to Unveil Next-Gen 4NE-1 Humanoid at Automatica 2025

NEURA Robotics Set to Unveil Next-Gen 4NE-1 Humanoid at Automatica 2025

Munich, Germany – NEURA Robotics, the German pioneer in "cognitive robotics," is on the cusp of a significant unveiling. Tomorrow, at Automatica 2025 in Munich, the company is slated to premiere the highly anticipated third generation of its 4NE-1 humanoid robot. This event is more than a product reveal; it represents a bold statement of NEURA's ambition to redefine human-robot collaboration and challenge established players in the global humanoid market.

Founded in 2019, NEURA Robotics has rapidly carved a niche for itself by focusing on imbuing robots with human-like cognitive abilities – the capacity to see, hear, feel, and make decisions. This philosophy underpins the Neuraverse, a unified robotics ecosystem designed to enable robots to learn continuously and share skills, much like an app store for robotic capabilities. The company's impressive growth, including a €120 million Series B funding round in January 2025 and a €1 billion order book, underscores its momentum in the field.

CEO David Reger has set a high bar for the upcoming 4NE-1, proclaiming it "should be the best humanoid robot on the planet" upon its launch. This claim will be put to the test as the robotics community scrutinizes the promised advancements.

Accelerating Performance: Actuation and Dexterity

One of the most critical areas of improvement in the new 4NE-1 is its actuation system. Reger has indicated that NEURA's engineers have developed proprietary motors, gearboxes, and cooling systems that enable over twice the torque output in the same size actuator – from approximately 150 Nm to over 300 Nm per joint. This leap in power density, achieved through innovative cycloidal gear drives and high-performance inductive encoders, is expected to result in significantly faster and more fluid movements, including a quicker walking gait and more agile arm motions. Furthermore, these new gearboxes are engineered for enhanced robustness, designed to withstand impacts and falls, addressing a key durability concern for humanoids operating in unpredictable environments.

Complementing the enhanced actuation is a major upgrade to the 4NE-1's hands. While the previous iteration featured a 6-Degrees-of-Freedom (DoF) hand, the new version will boast a 16-DoF design, meaning each hand will have 16 independently controlled actuators. This substantial increase in articulation is crucial for delicate tasks, enabling the robot to perform intricate manipulations with greater precision – from grasping fragile objects to potentially typing on a keyboard. This advancement aligns with NEURA's vision for a truly general-purpose robot.

A More Aware Robot: Enhanced Sensing and "Robot Skin"

Safety and intuitive interaction are central to NEURA's design philosophy, and the new 4NE-1 is expected to demonstrate significant strides in its sensory capabilities. A key anticipated feature is the integration of "robot skin" – distributed touch sensors on the robot's body. This, combined with NEURA's unique "Touchless Safe Human Detection (SHD) sensor," aims to provide the robot with a more comprehensive awareness of its surroundings, allowing it to proactively detect human presence and moderate force in any accidental contact. This integrated safety approach could make the 4NE-1 exceptionally safe for close human interaction, a critical factor for its intended deployment in both industrial and domestic settings.

Improvements in core sensors are also expected, including higher-resolution cameras or additional depth sensors for enhanced object recognition, and audio systems optimized for noisy real-world environments. NEURA is working to increase sensor bandwidth and fusion, allowing the robot to "see, hear, and feel" simultaneously with minimal latency, leading to faster reaction times and more "aware" behavior.

Cognitive Evolution: AI and Software Advancements

On the software front, the Gen 3 4NE-1 will continue to advance NEURA's vision of a cognitive, learning robot. Collaboration with NVIDIA, leveraging the Omniverse Isaac platform for simulation and AI model training, is expected to result in improved autonomy. This could include more robust walking algorithms and better grasp planning, honed through extensive virtual training.

NEURA has hinted at the concept of an "app store" for 4NE-1 skills within the Neuraverse, allowing the robot to switch between different task skillsets by loading various AI modules. This platform-centric approach, coupled with integration efforts with SAP for enterprise software connectivity, suggests a robot capable of interfacing with smart home or factory systems, fetching work orders, or accessing inventory data to inform its actions.

Reger has also teased live demonstrations at Automatica 2025, a departure from earlier static displays. Observers will be keen to see how smoothly the 4NE-1 executes tasks repeatedly and responds to unscripted interactions, such as voice commands from the crowd. The potential integration of large language models (LLMs) into the tech stack could enable the new 4NE-1 to understand more complex instructions and even answer questions about its actions, furthering NEURA's focus on human-friendly AI.

Paving the Path to Market-Readiness

NEURA is branding this new 4NE-1 as "market-ready," indicating it is moving beyond a laboratory prototype toward pilot deployments and sales. Announcements of official pilot programs or early customers are anticipated at the launch. The company's partnership with Vorwerk, a prominent household products company, suggests a strong push into the domestic market, with demonstrations of 4NE-1 assisting in kitchens or living rooms. On the industrial side, existing partners like Volvo and Delta Electronics may be involved in piloting the humanoid in factories.

The rapid iteration through three generations in approximately three years demonstrates NEURA's aggressive development pace. With the Gen 3 4NE-1, NEURA Robotics aims to "beat what's on the market" in the burgeoning global humanoid race. The robotics industry will be watching closely to see if NEURA's ambitious upgrades translate into a truly versatile, robust, and commercially viable humanoid robot.