Approach
Our approach and roadmap
We're going step by step. Each phase has conditions that must be true before the next one starts, and no dates are promised.
Research and development stage
Humanoid Works is in the research and development stage. We have no product for sale, no price and no ship date, and we are not taking orders, reservations or deposits.
Five phases
Groundwork
Where we are now
Study the rules, the market and the construction tasks; protect our name; and talk with robot and component makers under nondisclosure agreements. Moves on when we have a supplier shortlist screened against US government lists, legal advice on the rules below, and the first task cards written from real jobs.
Learn on existing robots
Use one or two commercially available humanoid robots that already hold a US FCC equipment authorization, exactly as they come and for research only: on an isolated network, in a fenced area our affiliated contractor controls, never on a client's site. Moves on when a written risk assessment, a named emergency-stop owner and training records are in place, and our insurer has confirmed coverage in writing.
Task kits
For one construction task at a time, put together the tools, attachments, software and written procedure, and test them in the yard against the task card. Moves on when a task works reliably in the yard and its failures are written down.
Supervised field pilots
Try a task kit on a real job, beside a crew, only with a written risk assessment for that site, insurance confirmed in writing, and the agreement of the site owner and the crew. Never near homeowners or the public, and only with a robot that has passed our own security review: the research robots from phase 2 stay in the yard. A person with an emergency stop stays with the robot the whole time. Moves on when the pilot's results, good and bad, are written up and shared.
Our own models
Design robots under our own name, but only with a lawful path to the US market and independent safety testing. Under today's FCC rules that means either a robot made in the US with more than 65 percent of its component cost in parts made in the US, or a Conditional Approval from the Department of War. Moves on when that path, the testing and product liability insurance are all in place.
Design goals
- Safety first: an emergency stop within reach, fenced testing first, and a written risk assessment for every task, using the method of the US industrial robot safety standard (ANSI/A3 R15.06-2025) where it applies.
- Modular: swappable tools and training, so one robot can learn more than one task.
- Maintainable: parts, diagnostics and repairs planned from the start.
- Honest demos: every video labeled teleoperated, scripted or autonomous, and no rendering shown as a real robot.
Nothing here is certified or approved: no safety standard covers humanoid robots on construction sites yet, and we won't claim one until a certificate exists.
What we won't do
- We won't take deposits, pre-orders or reservations for a robot that doesn't exist.
- We won't put a robot near homeowners or the public, and none goes near a crew before the conditions of phase 4 are met.
- We won't call anything certified, compliant or approved before a certificate or approval exists.
- We won't name a manufacturer as a partner before a signed agreement and their written OK.
- We won't present another company's robot as our own.
- We won't film people or homes without their written consent, or record audio on job sites.
- We won't let a robot do electrical or plumbing work that Washington law limits to people who hold the state's credential for it.
Rules that shape this plan
These are short summaries of public rules and proposals as of October 2026. They are not legal advice, and they change.
- The FCC Covered List. Since July 28, 2026, new models of foreign-produced mobile robots, humanoids included, can't receive the FCC equipment authorization they need for the US market unless the Department of War grants a Conditional Approval. Models authorized before that date keep their authorization. A robot assembled in the US from mostly foreign parts can still count as foreign-produced. Sources: FCC public notice DA 26-786, Morgan Lewis, Morrison Foerster.
- The GUARD Act. A House bill introduced on June 3, 2026 (H.R. 9129) would put humanoid and four-legged robots from adversary nations on the Covered List, which could end their use here. A House subcommittee advanced it on September 1, 2026, and it is still in committee. Sources: Congress.gov, House Select Committee on the CCP.
- Job-site safety. OSHA says "There are currently no specific OSHA standards for the robotics industry," so its general requirements and Washington's general duty clause apply. The US industrial robot standard, ANSI/A3 R15.06-2025 (based on ISO 10218), was written for industrial robots, and the first international safety standard for robots like humanoids, ISO 25785-1, is still a draft. Sources: OSHA, ANSI, RCW 49.17.060, Biped News on humanoid safety standards.
- Import duties and forced-labor rules. Robots and robot parts made in China carry Section 301 duties, and goods made with forced labor are barred under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, whose enforcement now treats lithium as a high-priority sector. Every supplier and battery we consider will be screened first. Sources: Morgan Lewis on the July 2026 Section 301 program, CBP, DHS.
- Where the field is. Humanoid robots on construction sites are still "research demonstrations or narrowly defined tasks", in the words of an October 2026 review. Source: AEC Business.
Questions about the roadmap
Why start with existing robots instead of our own?
Because learning what a construction task really demands is quicker and safer on a robot that already exists and is already authorized. Our own design comes later, and only with a lawful path to the US market.
Will you publish results?
Yes: what we tested, what worked and what failed, with every video labeled teleoperated, scripted or autonomous.