Viral videos of falling and chaotically moving robots have exposed the industry's main problem: how to deploy a humanoid machine in a warehouse or office without risking human health. The industry is responding to these challenges with comprehensive solutions—from specialized Nvidia chips to a radical abandonment of bipedal designs in favor of wheeled platforms.
The Problem of Probabilistic Systems
Traditional industrial robots are deterministic systems operating on strict algorithms. Humanoid machines based on AI, however, belong to probabilistic systems: their actions rely on statistical models rather than rigid rules. This creates fundamentally different risks. As functional safety expert Michel Silva notes, the simplest threat lies in a power outage—an 80-kilogram robot could simply collapse and crush a person.
Technological Solutions
Nvidia has already introduced a safety system for humanoid robots based on Blackwell chips. According to the company's Senior Director Amit Goel, the model analyzes sensor data and can stop the machine when danger is detected. The key innovation is the creation of a separate software stack where the functional safety system and the robot's operating system work in close coordination.
Philadelphia-based Fort Robotics has gone even further: their controllers collect information not only from onboard cameras but also from external infrastructure. The system analyzes a person's posture, location, and data reliability before the robot makes a movement decision.
Standards and Abandoning Legs
There are currently no unified international safety standards for humanoid robots—ISO experts plan to publish relevant requirements only by mid-2028. Manufacturers are forced to develop their own protocols. Germany's Neura Robotics has created a "collapsing fall" algorithm for its 80-kilogram 4NE1 robot: when a joint fails, the machine does not topple sideways but compacts downward.
The most radical approach is demonstrated by Dexmate. The company has completely abandoned legs, creating wheeled platforms with long manipulators. Co-founder Yuzhe Qin explains that the low center of gravity and battery placement at the base eliminate falling altogether. Cobot, meanwhile, focuses on power limitation: their robots move at pedestrian speed and lack super-strong grips—"we're not trying to crush watermelons."
Analytical conclusion: The humanoid robot market is at a stage where safety is becoming the main barrier to scaling. Until unified standards emerge, success will depend on manufacturers' ability to balance functionality and risks. Abandoning legs in favor of wheeled platforms seems a pragmatic solution for warehouse and industrial tasks, but is unlikely to suit service robotics, where mobility on stairs and uneven surfaces is required.