Authored by Jijo Malayil via Interesting Engineering,
Chinese robotics firm UniX AI has unveiled Panther, touted as the world’s first service humanoid robot to enter real household deployment.
Panther is a third-generation full-size wheeled dual-arm humanoid robot, and UniX AI has commenced global deliveries.
The robot stands about 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighs around 176 pounds (80 kilograms), and operates for 8 to 16 hours on a single charge.
According to the Suzhou-based firm, its design focuses on usability and reliable performance in complex indoor environments, marking a significant step toward bringing general-purpose humanoid robots into everyday settings.
Stable service robot
Panther is a wheeled dual-arm humanoid robot designed for real-world deployment across home, commercial, and industrial settings - and is equipped with an omnidirectional, four-wheel-steering, four-wheel-drive (4WS+4WD) chassis, enabling agile movement and stable operation in complex indoor environments. According to the UniX AI, the wheeled architecture marks a departure from the more common legged humanoid approach, which is combined with general-purpose AI models, offering improved efficiency and practicality for deployment.
According to UniX AI, the robot features 34 high-degree-of-freedom joints, including the world’s first mass-produced 8-DoF bionic arms and adaptive intelligent grippers, allowing precise and flexible manipulation.
Furthermore, it is equipped with cameras, sensors, and audio input systems that support object recognition, indoor navigation, and interaction with people. The system is designed to perform multi-step tasks rather than isolated actions, allowing it to execute complete sequences of activities.
“With our integrated trinity of algorithms, hardware, and applications, we have already scaled from lab validation to mass delivery, and from local deployment to global expansion,” said Fred Yang, Founder and CEO of UniX AI, in a statement.
Multi-task humanoid
In demonstrations and early deployments, the robot has shown the ability to handle a variety of domestic tasks. These include waking users, preparing breakfast, cleaning rooms, organizing household items, and operating certain appliances. It can also sort and move objects as part of routine household workflows.
The robot is built to manage continuous task sequences efficiently. For example, it can wake a user in the morning, prepare a meal, clean the kitchen afterward, and organize the living space, demonstrating coordinated, multi-step task execution in real-world home environments.
Panther, evolved from the Wanda 2.0 platform, introduces an 80 cm vertical lift of the upper body, enabling both elevated reach and ground-level operation. It operates on an upgraded 48V power platform, delivering higher output along with improved stability for high-speed control and dynamic movements.
Panther is powered by UniX AI’s integrated technology stack. UniFlex enables efficient cross-scenario task generalization and imitation learning. UniTouch combines visuo-tactile multimodal models to improve precision handling and interactive capabilities with enhanced stability. UniCortex supports long-term task planning, enabling the robot to execute complex, multi-step operations seamlessly.
According to the firm, the system is designed for a wide range of real-world applications. These include commercial services such as hotels, reception, retail, and guided tours; home and personal uses like household tasks, elderly care, and companionship; and public or industrial roles including security patrols, research, and education.
Experts say household robots still face hurdles, including cluttered environments, varied lighting, and handling soft objects. Challenges in navigation, appliance interaction, battery life, cost, safety, and reliability remain. However, robots performing multiple domestic tasks indicate that fully functional home assistants managing daily chores are gradually moving closer to reality.