US Army competition explores military uses for humanoid robots

The U.S. Army’s program for accelerating new technologies announced the winners of a humanoid robot competition , which assessed how the emerging technology could contribute to future military operations.

According to the Sept. 29 announcement , the five winners of the Army’s xTechHumanoid competition include ACES Group, IHMC Robotics, Hydroplane Limited, Ras Labs and Velocity Explorations.

Alex Miller, the Army’s chief technology officer, explained that through the program, the service tried to identify “the problems, mission needs, and opportunities” humanoid robots could best be used.

“xTech is our method of surveying the industry landscape and fast-tracking promising technology rather than falling victim to years-long studies,” Miller said.

“Humanoid robots are part of a broader autonomy push to increase the depth and breadth of robotic platforms and components industry can provide for a range of missions,” he added.

For the competition, Army officials reviewed each company’s white paper proposal for its humanoid robot. They evaluated the concepts based on several criteria, including military utility, technical merit and technological maturity.

Of the 103 submissions, the Army selected 10 finalists, each of which received $25,000. The service then identified five winners through a live experimentation event.

According to the 2025 competition announcement , the event tested the robots on a series of collective tasks “in the context of a military small unit mission conducted in a combat situation.”

During the event, officials also reviewed the baseline system capabilities and advanced subsystems.

Examples of the former include checkpoint security, gap crossing or obstacle clearing and firefighting. Whereas the latter included technologies like thermal sensors, battery life and autonomy.

However, Robert Griffin, a senior researcher at IHMC Robotics , told Military Times that the competition’s individual requirements exceeded what current technology could achieve.

“The individual things that were outlined were, in any one element, beyond what is possible given the current state of the art,” Griffin said.

Companies compete in the U.S. Army's xTechHumanoid finals at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, on Sept. 10, 2026. (Connor Taggert/U.S. Army)

“For example, you don’t have a robot that can run 28 miles an hour while carrying 50 pounds and operating for 24 hours,” he said. “It’s not a thing that exists in the world.”

Because the Army’s “actual full desirements were beyond what can currently be done,” Griffin said, developers had to prioritize different elements of their robots’ capabilities for the demonstrations.

Griffin’s team focused on baseline capabilities.

“The big thing for us was to have the robot show up at the competition, move around in the world, unsupported, at a reasonable pace, and then respond to commands,” he said.

Video of the competition shows IHMC’s robot “Alex” following voice commands directing it to walk through a field and then, under the control of a human with a remote, through the woods and across gravel.

Alex also grasps a small shovel, begins to dig and attempts to pour dirt into a bucket. Although it doesn’t succeed, it demonstrates the movement. And finally, Alex collapses and has to be transported out on a gurney.

Other competitors focused on subsystems.

Hydroplane and ACES Group competed with their batteries, while Velocity Explorations entered software that enabled its robot to listen to radio traffic between people and understand their movements and tasks. Using that information to develop an understanding of the broader battlespace, the platform could then determine how to act.

Ras Labs tested highly sensitive fingertip tactile sensors that allowed a robot to handle delicate objects.

While multiple companies said they participated because it was a chance to test their products, Dr. Anita Sengupta, Hydroplane’s founder and chief executive, explained that her company has traditionally done work for large structures and aircraft, but recently started working on smaller and portable systems.

“We saw a good overlap between developing a power system for a humanoid, whether it’s a person or a robot, as well as the drone use case, so it just seemed like an interesting use case for us to take our technology to,” she said.

For the competition, her company adapted a 10-kilowatt system originally designed for the Marine Corps in 2024, but made it smaller because the humanoid only needed a few kilowatts. The device utilizes a fuel cell similar to what a generator uses, but instead of using diesel fuel, it uses hydrogen. Sengupta explained that the benefits are that it has about three times the energy density and a higher conversion efficiency.

Although Hydroplane didn’t directly power a humanoid robot with its fuel cell, the Army tested it to see if it could power a humanoid robot. In turn, Hydroplane helped establish those standards, with the intent to eventually collaborate with a humanoid robot team.

In the recent announcement, the Army said the competition revealed a clear picture of “both the progress commercial industry has made in humanoid robotics and the technical challenges that remain.” The findings, the service said, will help it direct research toward technologies that offer the greatest return for warfighters.

But while humanoid robots might eventually take on more complex military tasks, Griffin said the industry is still a long way from developing machines like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 from The Terminator franchise.

“I don’t think that any person who has a modicum of ethics is going to say that we need to be having these robots making life or death decisions,” he said, noting how easily current AI models can be confused or manipulated.

Instead, Griffin said the future of humanoid robotics will depend in part on what investors want the machines to do. Industrial companies, for example, may see opportunities to automate tasks typically performed by humans.

“Our goal is to be able to make robots that remove people from having to do harmful tasks,” he said about his company, pointing to scenarios such as first responders entering burning buildings and nuclear cleanup.

Daniel Terrill is a contributor to Military Times. He’s been reporting on military issues, the gun industry, and the outdoors for nearly two decades. Although writing is his passion, he’s been a Marine, police officer, and, perhaps the most dangerous job of his career, a substitute teacher.

美国陆军加速新技术发展计划公布了人形机器人竞赛的获奖者，该竞赛旨在评估新兴技术如何为未来的军事行动做出贡献。

根据 9 月 29 日的公告，陆军 xTechHumanoid 竞赛的五位获胜者包括 ACES Group、IHMC Robotics、Hydroplane Limited、Ras Labs 和 Velocity Explorations。

陆军首席技术官亚历克斯·米勒解释说，通过该计划，陆军试图确定人形机器人最适合用于哪些“问题、任务需求和机遇”。

“xTech 是我们调查行业现状并快速推进有前景的技术的方法，而不是陷入长达数年的研究之中，”米勒说。

“人形机器人是更广泛的自主化进程的一部分，旨在增加机器人平台和组件行业的深度和广度，以执行各种任务，”他补充道。

在本次竞赛中，陆军官员审阅了每家公司提交的人形机器人白皮书方案。他们根据多项标准对这些方案进行评估，包括军事实用性、技术优势和技术成熟度。

在103份参赛作品中，陆军选出了10名决赛入围者，每人获得25000美元奖金。然后，陆军通过现场实验活动确定了5名获胜者。

根据 2025 年比赛公告，该赛事测试了机器人在“在战斗情况下执行的军事小队任务”中的一系列集体任务。

活动期间，官员们还审查了基础系统能力和高级子系统。

前者包括检查站安保、穿越缺口或清除障碍物以及消防等技术。而后者则包括热传感器、电池寿命和自主性等技术。

然而，IHMC Robotics 的高级研究员罗伯特·格里芬告诉《军事时报》，比赛的各项要求超出了当前技术所能达到的水平。

格里芬说：“就任何一个方面而言，所列出的这些具体事项都超出了目前技术水平所能达到的范围。”

2026年9月10日，各公司在弗吉尼亚州匡蒂科海军陆战队基地参加美国陆军xTechHumanoid决赛。（康纳·塔格特/美国陆军）

“例如，你找不到能以每小时28英里的速度奔跑，同时还能负重50磅并连续工作24小时的机器人，”他说。“世界上根本不存在这样的东西。”

格里芬表示，由于陆军的“实际全部愿望超出了目前所能实现的范围”，开发人员不得不优先考虑机器人演示中不同的功能要素。

格里芬的团队专注于基础能力。

他说：“对我们来说，最重要的是让机器人出现在比赛中，在现实世界中独立移动，以合理的速度，然后对指令做出反应。”

比赛视频显示，IHMC 的机器人“Alex”能够按照语音指令穿过田野，然后在遥控机器人的控制下穿过树林和砾石路。

亚历克斯也拿起一把小铲子，开始挖土，试图把土倒进桶里。虽然没成功，但至少演示了动作要领。最后，亚历克斯倒下了，不得不被用担架抬走。

其他竞争对手则专注于子系统。

Hydroplane和ACES集团凭借电池技术展开竞争，而Velocity Explorations则推出了一款软件，使其机器人能够监听人与人之间的无线电通讯，并理解他们的行动和任务。利用这些信息，该平台可以更好地了解更广阔的战场环境，进而决定如何行动。

Ras Labs 测试了高灵敏度的指尖触觉传感器，使机器人能够处理易碎物品。

虽然多家公司表示他们参与是因为这是一个测试产品的机会，但Hydroplane的创始人兼首席执行官Anita Sengupta博士解释说，她的公司传统上为大型结构和飞机提供服务，但最近开始从事小型便携式系统的工作。

“我们发现，为类人生物（无论是人还是机器人）开发动力系统与无人机应用案例之间有很大的重叠之处，因此，这似乎是一个值得我们将技术应用于此的有趣案例，”她说。

为了参加比赛，她的公司对一套最初为美国海军陆战队设计的10千瓦系统进行了改造，使其体积更小，因为参赛的人形机器人只需要几千瓦的功率。该装置采用类似于发电机的燃料电池，但它使用的不是柴油，而是氢气。森古普塔解释说，其优势在于能量密度大约是普通燃料电池的三倍，而且转换效率更高。

虽然Hydroplane的燃料电池并未直接为人形机器人提供动力，但美国陆军对其进行了测试，以验证其是否能够为人形机器人供电。反过来，Hydroplane也帮助制定了相关标准，其最终目的是与人形机器人团队开展合作。

美国陆军在最近的公告中表示，此次竞赛清晰地展现了“商业界在人形机器人领域取得的进展以及仍然存在的技术挑战”。陆军称，研究结果将有助于其指导研发方向，朝着能够为作战人员带来最大效益的技术发展。

但格里芬表示，虽然人形机器人最终可能会承担更复杂的军事任务，但该行业距离开发出像《终结者》系列电影中阿诺·施瓦辛格饰演的 T-800 那样的机器还有很长的路要走。

“我认为任何稍有道德感的人都不会说我们需要让这些机器人来做关乎生死的决定，”他说道，并指出目前的人工智能模型很容易被混淆或操纵。

格里芬表示，人形机器人的未来在一定程度上取决于投资者希望机器做什么。例如，工业企业可能会看到将通常由人类完成的任务自动化的机会。

“我们的目标是制造出能够让人们免于从事有害工作的机器人，”他在谈到自己的公司时说道，并指出了一些场景，例如急救人员进入燃烧的建筑物和核清理工作。

丹尼尔·特里尔是《军事时报》的撰稿人。近二十年来，他一直报道军事问题、枪支行业和户外运动。虽然写作是他的挚爱，但他曾是一名海军陆战队员、一名警察，还做过一份或许是他职业生涯中最危险的工作——代课老师。