Y Combinator Startup Nori Robotics Launches $1,688 Home Robot Butler

In a market where general-purpose humanoid robots cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and quadruped 'robot dogs' fetch tens of thousands, Y Combinator-backed startup Nori Robotics has dropped a pricing bombshell: its new home robot costs just $1,688 (about ¥12,000), a sum that won't break the bank.

Based in San Francisco, Nori has opened pre-orders for the Nori L3, a wheeled dual-arm robot designed to handle household chores such as folding clothes, loading the dishwasher, and pouring wine. The company's bold move aims to make embodied AI accessible to the masses, not just deep-pocketed enterprises.

The Nori L3 features a mobile base topped with a torso and two arms, boasting 20 degrees of freedom in total. Each arm can lift up to 1.5 kg. For perception and navigation, it comes equipped with four 720p RGB cameras and a LiDAR sensor with a 12-meter detection range. The battery life is rated at 6-8 hours, enough to fold a basket of towels and then ponder its mechanical existence while charging.