Nori Robotics says it will begin delivering a dual-armed mobile robot priced at $1,688 in fall 2026, positioning the machine as a viable alternative to research-grade manipulators that typically cost tens of thousands of dollars. The San Francisco startup, which emerged from Y Combinator earlier this year, assembled its first A3 units domestically and is accepting orders for a fall production run that requires no upfront deposit.
The pricing represents a sharp break from established benchmarks in the field. Hello Robot's Stretch 2, a wheeled single-arm platform designed for university labs and assistive-care research, carries a $19,950 list price. The company's Stretch 4, introduced this spring, reportedly climbed to nearly $30,000. Unitree, the Chinese robotics manufacturer known for its quadruped systems, recently began selling a bipedal G1 humanoid starting at $13,500.
Whether Nori can sustain that price point while scaling production remains an open question. Mobile manipulation hardware involves expensive actuators, sensors, and compute boards, and past attempts to democratize robotics have stumbled on supply-chain realities or underestimated development costs.
What the Hardware Delivers
The A3 rolls on wheels and features 19 degrees of freedom across two arms—each with seven degrees of freedom plus one additional—capable of lifting 1.5 kilograms when fully extended. A telescoping central column adjusts height from 69 to 145 centimeters, giving the robot reach into kitchen cabinets or lower shelves. The entire assembly weighs just over 20 kilograms and fits within a 45-by-45-centimeter footprint. According to an arXiv paper the company published in May, that vertical column can lift up to 55 kilograms.
Sensor suite includes a two-dimensional lidar with 12-meter range, cycling at eight to twelve hertz with sub-degree angular resolution. Four 720p RGB cameras—mounted on the hands, head, and neck—capture up to 30 frames per second. Battery endurance runs between six and eight hours, enough for extended teleoperation sessions or autonomous task runs.
Nori pitches the platform for household chores such as loading dishwashers, retrieving items from refrigerators, and folding laundry. Light commercial applications like shelf restocking also appear in the company's marketing materials. The robot ships with foundational task libraries, and owners can record new behaviors using a desktop teleoperation interface. Those recorded demonstrations can then be uploaded to what Nori calls a Skills Marketplace, though details on how that exchange functions remain sparse.
The company's GitHub repositories show TypeScript and Python software development kits that communicate over WebRTC using an open "nori-protocol" specification. Both SDKs received updates in late summer, with notes indicating hardware paths were bench-tested in late August. The Python package is available through PyPI, and Nori maintains a browser-based simulator for prospective customers to preview the platform's kinematics before ordering.
Documentation is still catching up. The company's reference site displays a "Full Nori A3 docs coming soon" placeholder alongside getting-started guides and troubleshooting notes. Developer discussion on Hacker News suggests early adopters are piecing together workflows through trial and experimentation.
The Founder's Path
Antonio Sitong Li, who studied computer science and architecture at Columbia, launched Nori Robotics following research stints at the university's Data Science Institute and Graphics and UI Lab. He holds at least one computer-vision patent and previously attempted a separate venture called Truely. LinkedIn profiles indicate the company employs fewer than ten people, including Wen Ni Chew, Sylvain Marsot, and Massimo Sciaroni.
Beyond its Y Combinator backing, Nori has not disclosed any venture funding, according to startup databases. That lean capitalization may explain the domestic assembly strategy and aggressive pricing, though it also raises questions about how the company will finance inventory for larger batches or handle warranty claims as machines reach end users.
"We wanted to build the best robot possible for under 2K and in the US," Li wrote on X over the summer. "With this version Nori we think we've finally done it."
A recent LinkedIn post from the company noted that its initial production run sold quickly. A second batch is slated to ship this fall, though quantities were not specified.
The robotics industry has watched similar affordability plays fizzle when startups could not balance unit economics with performance expectations. Nori's willingness to forego deposits suggests confidence in its supply chain, or perhaps urgency to capture early-adopter attention before competitors respond. Either way, shipping hardware at this price threshold will test whether mobile manipulation can finally escape the lab and enter living rooms, warehouses, and small businesses that have long been priced out of the market.
