Duatic launches Alpha, a wheeled half-humanoid for industrial manipulation
The ETH Zurich spin-off's quasi-direct drive actuators power both its DynaArm, which Festo has integrated into a commercial demonstrator, and Alpha, a wheeled half-humanoid targeting warehouse and factory manipulation.
Duatic AG is a Swiss robotics company founded in 2024 as a spin-off from ETH Zurich research, building human-scale robotic manipulation systems for warehouse and industrial automation. Its two products are DynaArm, a lightweight robotic arm, and Alpha, a wheeled half-humanoid combining a mobile platform with dual-arm upper body manipulation.
The technology
Duatic's quasi-direct drive actuation, derived from ETH Zurich research, uses low gear ratios for backdrivability and compliant contact without separate force-torque sensors. The drivetrain yields to external forces.
DynaArm weighs 9 kilograms with a 1.1-metre reach, a 12.5-kilogram payload capacity, and end-effector speeds of up to 10 metres per second. Festo's BionicMobileAssistant uses DynaDrives, Duatic's proprietary actuators, as does Ballbot, a balancing wheeled robot platform developed separately at ETH Zurich.
The robot
Alpha is a wheeled half-humanoid with a strong mobile base supporting payloads up to 200 kilograms and dual DynaArms each capable of 6 kilograms continuously and 12 kilograms in short bursts. The platform uses vision-based navigation for autonomous path planning and obstacle avoidance and runs on hot-swappable batteries for near-continuous operation. The structure is IP-rated for water resistance, targeting deployment in industrial environments where standard robots would require protection enclosures.
Duatic is pursuing industrial partnerships in Europe and internationally. Its DynaArm is used in Festo’s BionicMobileAssistant. The company has demonstrated Alpha grasping a 20-kilogram bag using vision and dual-arm manipulation.
Have a robotics update Korthos should review? Send news, deployments, product releases, funding rounds, research, or media to [email protected] or reach out on X at @agkorthos.