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Kawasaki Kaleido 9

Name: Kawasaki Kaleido 9
Brand: Kawasaki Heavy Industries

A decade-old Japanese heavy-industry humanoid; remote-assisted factory use is targeted for about 2030.

EUNot available–

USNot available–

CNNot available–

Kaleido is Kawasaki's long-running humanoid programme, begun in 2015, with the seventh generation shown at iREX 2022 and Kaleido 9 shown at iREX 2025 in Tokyo. Kaleido 9 is described as lifting up to 18 kg and walking autonomously with obstacle avoidance, with remote operation as fallback. Kawasaki's published roadmap places remote-assisted work in controlled environments around 2030, autonomous work in unstructured settings around 2040. In 2026-10 Nikkei reported plans to adopt Noetra's AI for deployment as soon as 2030.

Our verdict

The most credible Japanese humanoid by corporate weight, but explicitly a 2030s product. No price, no customer; useful as a signal of where industrial incumbents are heading.

Video

**【iREX2025】川崎重工ヒューマノイドロボット RHP Kaleido 9｜Highlight**
Kawasaki Robotics JP

**ヒューマノイドロボットRHP Kaleido / Friendsの軌跡**
Kawasaki Robotics JP

**Robust Humanoid Platform Kaleido 8 川崎重工**
Kawasaki Robotics JP

Availability

EuropeNot available

No public price

Not sold; contact Kawasaki.

as of 2026-10 · Source

United StatesNot available

No public price

Not sold; contact Kawasaki.

as of 2026-10 · Source

ChinaNot available

No public price

Not sold.

as of 2026-10 · Source

Timeline

2015
Kawasaki starts the Robust Humanoid Platform programme that became Kaleido.
Mar 2022
7th-generation Kaleido presented (80 kg, 4 km/h walking, tethered demonstrations); also Friends and BEX robots.
Dec 2025
Kaleido 9 shown at iREX 2025, Tokyo, with remote-operated disaster-rescue demonstration.
Mar 16, 2026
Kawasaki publishes an overview of Kaleido 9 goals: autonomous walking with obstacle avoidance and LiDAR localisation, remote takeover when autonomy is insufficient.
Oct 5, 2026
Report (Nikkei Asia via Humanoids Daily): Kaleido to adopt Noetra physical AI, deployment targeted as early as 2030.

Promises

Kawasaki Heavy Industries · 2026Pending

“Humanoid mainly used in controlled environments such as factories, remote-operated, by about 2030; autonomous in unstructured environments by about 2040”

Long-range roadmap, nothing to test yet.

Due 2030 · Source