NEXTAGE is a dual-arm industrial humanoid robot from Kawada Robotics, a Japanese company, developed in collaboration with Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). Launched in 2009, NEXTAGE is one of the longest-serving commercial humanoid robots in the world — and, importantly, one of the first robots explicitly designed to work safely in the same space as human workers, without a safety fence. It is not a bipedal robot: NEXTAGE consists of a head, torso, and two arms on a fixed, wheeled stand.
Price Range
NEXTAGE is a genuine commercial industrial product sold to manufacturers, but Kawada does not publish a fixed public list price — industrial robots of this class are sold via quote, configuration-dependent. NEXTAGE has been adopted by 100+ companies internationally across electronics, food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.
| Basis | Figure |
|---|---|
| Confirmed list price | Not publicly published; quote-based industrial sales |
| Availability | Commercially available since 2009; deployed at 100+ companies |
| Variants | Industrial NEXTAGE (and NEXTAGE NXA); NEXTAGE Fillie; NEXTAGE Open (research) |
Full Specifications
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Dual-arm humanoid industrial robot on a fixed/wheeled stand (not bipedal) |
| Arms | Two arms, six axes each |
| Payload | Up to ~1.5 kg per hand |
| Position repeatability | Within ~0.03 mm |
| Vision | Stereo camera in the head plus cameras in the hands; integrated image-recognition system |
| Actuators | All axes use low-power actuators under 80 W — enabling fenceless operation alongside people (with risk assessment) |
| Safety | Electromagnetic brakes between arm and shoulder prevent the arm from dropping on power loss; LED status lights |
| Software | NxProduction — graphical teaching interface; image-processing tasks without programming |
| Installation | Mounted on a dedicated stand; movable and installable by one person |
Model Breakdown
The NEXTAGE family includes the industrial NEXTAGE (and the NEXTAGE NXA), the newer NEXTAGE Fillie (since 2022 — more compact, faster, lighter; covered below), and NEXTAGE Open, a research platform compatible with the open-source ROS middleware. The industrial models target high-mix, flexible manufacturing — assembly, inspection, and packaging.
Buyer's Guide: What to Know
NEXTAGE is a proven, fenceless factory robot. With deployments since 2009 at 100+ companies, it is one of the most established collaborative humanoids — a low-risk choice for high-mix assembly, inspection, and packaging.
It is not a walking robot. NEXTAGE is a fixed-base dual-arm humanoid. If you need mobility, it is the wrong tool — but for stationary line tasks, the fixed base is an advantage in stability and simplicity.
No-programming teaching is a real strength. The NxProduction graphical interface lets line staff set up vision-guided tasks without coding — valuable for small-lot, frequently-changing production.
The sub-80 W actuators are the safety story. Low-power actuators are what let NEXTAGE work beside people without a fence (after a proper risk assessment).
Choose the right family member. Industrial NEXTAGE/NXA for general use, NEXTAGE Fillie for a lighter/faster footprint, NEXTAGE Open for research.
NEXTAGE vs Similar Robots
- NEXTAGE vs NEXTAGE Fillie: Same family — Fillie is the newer, more compact, faster, lighter model.
- NEXTAGE vs Astribot S1: Both prioritize dual-arm manipulation over locomotion; NEXTAGE is a long-established fixed-base industrial robot, the S1 a newer service/research platform.
- NEXTAGE vs Rainbow Robotics RB-Y1: Both are dual-arm humanoid manipulators; the RB-Y1 adds a wheeled mobile base, while NEXTAGE is fixed-stand.
Source: Kawada Robotics
