Just when you thought the humanoid robot race was getting a little crowded, Westwood Robotics has elbowed its way to the front with an update that actually matters. The company announced its THEMIS Gen2.5, boldly claiming it’s the world’s first commercial full-size humanoid that can walk and chew gum at the same time—or, more accurately, manipulate objects while on the move.
This new trick is powered by a suite of serious hardware and software upgrades. The robot’s structure has been beefed up for 40% greater impact resistance, because progress sometimes involves stumbling. Its arms now feature seven degrees of freedom (7-DoF) with a peak payload of over 5 kg per arm. But the real heat, or lack thereof, comes from the new Mountain BEAR actuators in the hip joints. These custom-built powerhouses deliver a staggering 120% more torque capacity while generating around 80% less heat. This means THEMIS is far less likely to cook itself while performing strenuous tasks, a problem not entirely unfamiliar to its human counterparts.
On the software side, Westwood is rolling out its AOS (AI-Augmented Humanoid OS). This brain transplant is built on three pillars: a whole-body loco-manipulation controller for stable movement, a navigation module for semantic understanding of its environment, and an interaction module. This last part is powered by an Object-Centric Vision-Action Model (OC-VAM), a fancy way of saying it’s getting much smarter about how it sees and handles objects for computationally efficient task planning.
Why is this important?
The ability to manipulate objects while walking—a skill humans take for granted—is a monumental leap for commercial humanoids. Most robots are still stuck in a “stop, think, act” loop, which is painfully inefficient in dynamic environments like a warehouse or factory floor. By achieving simultaneous locomotion and manipulation, THEMIS moves beyond staged demos and into the realm of practical, real-world application.
This capability isn’t just a random breakthrough. Westwood Robotics is a spin-off from UCLA’s prestigious Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa), the same lab that produced the soccer-playing ARTEMIS humanoid. That robot, known for its record-breaking speed and agility thanks to its own custom actuators, clearly provided the DNA for THEMIS’s impressive new skills. By commercializing this academic pedigree, Westwood Robotics isn’t just building another humanoid; it’s pushing the entire industry to pick up the pace.
