Rainbow Robotics

Rainbow Robotics is a KAIST spin-off founded in 2011 by the HUBO Lab team behind Korea's first biped humanoid, HUBO (2004). DRC-HUBO won the 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge. Today it makes collaborative robot arms (RB series, which it says account for over 5,000 units in Korea), AMRs, the RBQ quadruped and the RB-Y1 wheeled dual-arm humanoid, which it sells as a research platform. Samsung Electronics took a 35% stake and consolidated the company in Dec 2024. Rainbow is now working on humanoids with Samsung, CJ Logistics, Samsung Heavy Industries and Samsung Medical Center.

4 humanoid models · 8 deployments on file · researched 2026-11-08

Headquarters
Sejong, South Korea
Founded
2011
Ownership
Public · 277810.KQ · owned by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (35.0% largest shareholder; consolidated subsidiary since 2024-12)
Website
rainbow-robotics.com
Focus
research, industrial, logistics, healthcare
Leadership
Lee Jung-ho (이정호; 'Jungho Lee' in English releases) CEO (대표이사) ↗
Oh Jun-ho (오준호) Founder. He left Rainbow in Dec 2024 to become an adviser to Samsung Electronics and head of its Future Robotics Office. ↗
Revenue
KRW 15,250,000,000 (2023, Company total, consolidated (stated as 152.5억원). The 2023 operating loss was 446억원, which the company attributes to derivative accounting on its convertible bonds. No newer figure was verifiable at a primary source because DART and KIND could not be reached.) ↗
Last round
strategic (Samsung Electronics call-option exercise, 14.7% to 35.0%) · 2024-12-31
Investors
Samsung Electronics
Production
The company said on 2025-09-15 that RB-Y1 had passed 100 units sold this year ('올해 판매기록 100대를 돌파'). Separately, it says over 5,000 RB-series cobots (not humanoids) have been produced and deployed across Korea (Automate 2026 post). ↗
1

Humanoids

Each model as the maker has shown it. Specs are maker-stated; a dash means no source states the figure.

ModelStatusAnnouncedHeightWeightDoFPayloadRuntimePrice
RB-Y1 wheeled ↗Two 7-DOF arms on a 6-DOF single 'leg' torso over a wheeled base. The spec table lists two versions: A (20 DOF, 131 kg, 1,250 Wh battery) and M (26 DOF, 170 kg, 2,500 Wh). The same page's body text says 24 DOF. Speed is 1.5 m/s on the current page; the 2024 launch release said 2.5 m/s. Payload is 3 kg per arm and size is 600 x 690 x 1,400 mm. It has a dual-PC design (500 Hz real-time Robot PC plus a User PC), runs ROS 2 with an SDK, and supports leader-arm or VR teleoperation for learning-from-demonstration data. First shown at SF+AW in March 2024; the company timeline gives the launch as 2024-08. Commercial2024-03 140 cm131 kg 203 kg — $80K2024 pre-order price: US$80,000 for the research platform and US$120,000 for the commercial platform (VAT excluded), per the company's PR Newswire release of 2024-05-08. The current list price is not published.
DRC-HUBO / DRC-HUBO+ ↗Won the June 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge. It has its own actuator cooling system and a wheeled driving mode. One DRC-HUBO+ was exported to the US Naval Research Laboratory in 2015-12. 'Retired' is based only on it being absent from the current product lineup. Retired2015 —— —— — not published
HUBO 2 / HUBO II (HUBO-2 Plus) ↗Full-size research humanoid with a cable-driven adaptive five-finger hand. It was exported with NSF support to MIT and others (2011-12) and to Google Inc. (2013-09). Wikipedia says 15 HUBO-2 Plus units were made by 2012. 'Retired' is based only on it being absent from the current product lineup. Retired2011 —— —— — not published
RB-Y2 wheeled ↗The product page shows only a tagline: a next-generation mobile dual-arm platform that 'extends beyond research to field operation'. It gives no specs or date, so the status is left null. —— —— —— — not published
2

Deployments

Named customers, what the robots do there, and how far it has gone.

CustomerWhatWhenStage
CJ Logistics (CJ대한통운) ↗MOU to jointly develop an 'AI humanoid logistics robot' on Rainbow's mobile dual-arm and humanoid platforms. Field tests in real logistics centers were planned from the end of 2025.2025-04Trial
Samsung Heavy Industries ↗MOU to co-develop shipyard automation using cobots, mobile dual-arm robots and quadrupeds, with field tests at SHI's training site.2025-10Trial
Samsung Medical Center (ORchestra project, Korean ARPA-H) ↗Rainbow is a participant in the project. Two humanoid surgical-assistant robots took part in a mock cholecystectomy demo on 2026-09-16.2026-09Trial
Schaeffler Group and KETI ↗MOU to co-develop an AI mobile dual-arm robot for autonomous manufacturing. Schaeffler supplies reducers and other components, and Rainbow builds the finished robot.2024-02Trial
Samsung Electronics ↗Samsung said it plans to use Rainbow's cobots, dual-arm robots and AMRs to automate its manufacturing and logistics, and set up a joint synergy council.2024-12Trial
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory ↗DRC-HUBO+ export2015-12Order
Google Inc. ↗HUBO II export2013-09Order
MIT and other US research teams (NSF-funded) ↗HUBO II exports2011-12Order
3

Dated facts

Milestones, orders, factories and filings, newest first.

  • 2026-09At Samsung AI Forum 2026, Samsung's RX Business Promotion Office said it will first automate its more than 100 factories, 'including our investment in Rainbow Robotics', before moving into home helper robots. It cited humanoid hardware costs of about US$100,000 per unit. ↗
  • 2026-09Rainbow and SFA Engineering signed an MOU on AI autonomous manufacturing and robotics, including joint sales and marketing. ↗
  • 2026-04Headquarters moved to a new building in Jipyeon-dong Tech Valley, Sejong. The Pangyo AI research lab opened in 2026-02. In 2025-02 the company joined Samsung's AI humanoid development as an industry partner. ↗
  • 2026-03FY2025 (15th term) consolidated balance sheet: total assets 143,305,317,623 KRW, total equity 133,830,651,193 KRW, accumulated deficit (4,789,812,944) KRW. ↗
  • 2026-02A Korea Financial News article reposted by the company says Rainbow plans to commercialize a humanoid in 2028 and is developing a humanoid for Samsung Heavy Industries' Geoje shipyard (welding and material transport). The same article says the PER reached about 7,000x at a 52-week high of 785,000 won. ↗
  • 2025-09RB-Y1 sales passed 100 units in 2025, announced alongside CoRL 2025 and Humanoids 2025 in Seoul. ↗
  • 2025-03Korea Fair Trade Commission approved Samsung's acquisition of an additional 20.29% of Rainbow Robotics (to 35%). The filing was made 2025-01-13. ↗
  • 2024-12Samsung Electronics exercised its call option and raised its stake from 14.7% (bought in 2023 for 868억원) to 35.0%, becoming the largest shareholder. Rainbow becomes a consolidated subsidiary. ↗
  • 2024-05RB-Y1 pre-orders opened at US$80,000 (research) and US$120,000 (commercial), with deliveries scheduled from October 2024. The company called it the first commercially sold humanoid-type research platform for AI researchers. ↗
  • 2015-06HUBO won the DARPA Robotics Challenge. The company was founded in 2011-02 as ㈜레인보우 under KAIST professor Oh Jun-ho and listed on KOSDAQ (277810) in 2021-02. ↗
4

Not yet confirmed

Claims seen in only one non-official place. Shown so they can be checked, not as findings.

  • FY2025 consolidated revenue of about 341억원 (+76.4% year on year) and an operating loss of about 24.8–25억원. Seen only on secondary sites (foxcg.com and similar search snippets); the primary filing on KIND/DART was unreachable.
  • Samsung paid about 267.5 billion won (about US$181–182M) for the extra 20.3% stake. Reported by Verdict, The Star and others in search results; the Samsung newsroom repost does not state the amount.
  • Samsung's Jan 2023 investment was about 590억원 for 10.22%, per the Korea Financial News repost. Samsung's own release gives 868억원 for the full 14.7% across 2023.
  • Wikipedia still gives the HQ as Yuseong District, Daejeon. The company site says HQ moved to Jipyeon-dong, Sejong in 2026-04.
  • Wikipedia: 15 HUBO-2 Plus units made by 2012 (4 domestic, 11 overseas), citing Maeil Business 2014.
S

Sources

Retrieved 2026-11-08.

  1. RB-Y1 | 레인보우로보틱스 — Rainbow Robotics
  2. RB-Y2 — Rainbow Robotics
  3. 회사소개 — Rainbow Robotics
  4. 헤리티지 스토리 (history & timeline) — Rainbow Robotics
  5. 제15기 결산공고 (FY2025 balance sheet notice) — Rainbow Robotics
  6. Rainbow Robotics begins pre-orders of RB-Y1 — Rainbow Robotics / PR Newswire
  7. 국내 최초 이동형 양팔로봇 RB-Y1 공개 — Rainbow Robotics
  8. [삼성전자 뉴스룸] 삼성전자, 레인보우로보틱스 최대주주 지위 확보 (repost) — Samsung Electronics via Rainbow Robotics
  9. [공정거래위원회 보도자료] 삼성전자–레인보우로보틱스 기업결합 승인 (repost) — Korea Fair Trade Commission via Rainbow Robotics
  10. CJ대한통운과 AI 휴머노이드 물류로봇 공동 개발 MOU — Rainbow Robotics
  11. 레인보우로보틱스-삼성중공업 스마트 조선소 MOU — Rainbow Robotics
  12. [News1] Humanoid robots enter the operating room (repost) — News1 via Rainbow Robotics
  13. 셰플러 그룹, KETI와 AI-이동형 양팔로봇 공동 개발 MOU — Rainbow Robotics
  14. 글로벌 연구무대서 韓 로봇 기술 선봬 (CoRL/Humanoids 2025) — Rainbow Robotics
  15. 2023년 실적 발표 … 연간 매출 152.5억원 — Rainbow Robotics
  16. 이재용 회장 ‘삼성의 미래’ PICK — 휴머노이드 원조 레인보우로보틱스 (Korea Financial News repost) — 한국금융신문 via Rainbow Robotics
  17. [Edaily] Samsung unveils roadmap for commercializing robots (repost) — Edaily via Rainbow Robotics
  18. Rainbow Robotics at Automate 2026 — Rainbow Robotics
  19. [Chosun Biz] SFA, Rainbow Robotics join to advance AI autonomous manufacturing — Chosun Biz via Rainbow Robotics
  20. Rainbow Robotics — Wikipedia