Robros adds real-time full-body teleoperation to IGRIS-C after 18 humanoids sold

Robros, a Seoul-based humanoid maker, unveiled real-time full-body teleoperation for its IGRIS-C bipedal humanoid on September 22, 2026. An operator can now drive the robot’s upper and lower body at the same time, so it walks, adjusts posture and keeps balance while handling objects. Robros says it had produced 36 IGRIS-C units and sold 18 as of August 31.

Why it matters: Robros says 18 sales is the most of any Korean bipedal humanoid developer, and the new mode lets those robots do useful work, and collect training data, before their autonomy is ready.

What is IGRIS-C full-body teleoperation?

It is a control mode in which a human operator’s movements are copied by the whole robot in real time. Earlier Robros teleoperation covered the upper body only. The new system adds the legs, so the robot can step, squat, turn and rebalance while its arms do the task. Humanoids Daily reports the operator wears a headset, and that the robot coordinates its own posture and balance while following the operator.

In the demonstrations, IGRIS-C squatted, turned, carried boxes, punched a sandbag and kicked a ball. Robros says the movements are directed by the operator, not played back from pre-programmed trajectories. The company calls it the highest level of the technology publicly disclosed in Korea; that is its own claim.

How many IGRIS-C humanoids has Robros sold?

Eighteen, out of 36 produced, as of August 31, 2026. Robros disclosed the figures when it received a commendation from Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy at the 2026 M.AX Awards on September 17. The largest single batch came in August, when it supplied nine IGRIS-C units at once to nine organisations, all on paid contracts, under a humanoid demonstration support programme run by the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement. Three consortia were selected from ten applicants and took three robots each, ZDNet Korea reported.

The sites include a semiconductor cleanroom, an automotive manufacturing plant and a fresh-food refrigerated logistics centre, plus research institutes. Robros has not named the customers or disclosed prices. The robots stand 154 cm tall, weigh 56 kg according to the company, and take interchangeable end effectors, including a five-fingered hand. For where Robros sits among Korean robot companies, see our ranking of Korea’s physical AI firms.

Why use teleoperation instead of autonomy?

Because the sites Robros sells into change constantly, and teleoperation works today. The company says real-time integrated control of the upper and lower body is essential where the object, location and surroundings keep changing, and that a human operator can judge situations the robot has not been trained for. It also pitches remote operation for hazardous environments.

The second reason is data. Every teleoperated shift produces movement data across varied postures, positions and tasks, which Robros says will be used to train future autonomous behaviour. That is the same model other companies are betting on: Tau Robotics runs a teleoperated cleaning service in San Francisco that doubles as data capture, covered in our report on Tau Robotics, and Enigma raised $71 million on the argument that the operator interface is the core problem; see Enigma’s $71M round.

What has IGRIS-C not shown yet?

It has not shown autonomous performance at industrial rates. Robros has published no task success rates, throughput figures or results from full production shifts. A teleoperated humanoid still needs a human per robot, so its economics depend on what the collected data later makes possible. The 18 sales are real revenue; the productivity case is still to be demonstrated.