UCLA Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory · Humanoid robotics research infrastructure

UCLA builds an open humanoid around reused smartphones

Open-source physical prototype; preprintOctober 6, 2026

A smartphone mounted above two small articulated robot legs on a lab table. — **AI-generated illustration** — Conceptual illustration of smartphone-based humanoid robotics; not an exact depiction of UCLA PhoneBot. Created with OpenAI image generation · 1536 × 1024 · Illustrative concept, not a photograph of the reported event.

What happened

The 13-actuator platform runs a locomotion policy trained in simulation and was physically demonstrated walking, recovering from a fall, following people visually and turning its phone-mounted camera. The team validated its Android software on four old or low-cost phones and released hardware and software designs with an October 6 preprint.

Why it matters

Reusing smartphone cameras, inertial sensors and processors could lower the cost of reproducible humanoid research platforms. PhoneBot is not a general household robot or commercial product: its low-power servos limit payload and dynamic motion, its walking controller was trained for flat ground, and the current body has no arms for manipulation.

Source checked October 31, 2026. Status describes the evidence in the linked source at the time of review.