Highlanders N

Not released

Announced onlyRL walkingMade in JapanJetson Orin NXMitsubishi factory pilotShips 2027 (planned)

Not releasedShipping: 2027 (planned).

LEARN MORE (Highlanders, official) ↗

Overview

N is a full-size biped from Highlanders, a University of Tokyo spin-off founded in May 2023 in Tokyo. It is the company's fourth-generation humanoid, after the Ninja bipeds and the 19-DoF HL Human of 2025. Highlanders builds the mechanics, electronics, embedded software and AI in-house. N is sized like an adult at 175 cm and 75 kg, so it can press buttons and pedals made for people, wear clothes and ride in a car seat. It walks with a learned whole-body controller and runs about 2 hours on a 48 V, 22 Ah battery. Mitsubishi Motors invested in Highlanders and signed an MOU in July 2026. The plan is to use N first on the engine line at Mitsubishi's Kyoto plant and to build it in an idle building there. Production could start in early 2027, aiming at about 1,000 units a month later that year. A mass-production prototype was shown at CEATEC 2026. Price, walking speed and an SDK have not been announced.

Type: Biped robot · Full-size humanoids
Maker: Highlanders (株式会社Highlanders, Japan)
Released: 2026
Price: Not released
Status: Announced only
Best for: Professionals & labs
Programming: No programmability

Price and shipping

No price announced. Shipments are targeted for 2027, with Mitsubishi Motors' own factories as the first users (October 2026).

Shipping: 2027 (planned). Not on sale. Highlanders is preparing mass production for shipments starting in 2027, and the first units are planned for Mitsubishi Motors' plants. Business inquiries go to [email protected]. Highlanders (official) ↗

Specifications

Category	Bipeds · Full-size humanoids
Released	2026
Country	Japan
Availability	Announced only
Programmability	No programmability
Built-in autonomy	Task-level · Carries out multi-step jobs on its own, such as inspections, deliveries or chores
LLM support	LLM plans actions · Highlanders is building its own Kepler foundation model for N. A vision-language planner at about 5 Hz breaks requests into tasks, and a fast reflex layer at about 500 Hz handles balance and force control. Kepler v1.0 is still in development, so what ships on N in 2027 is not confirmed. Highlanders, Kepler v1.0 (official) ↗
MuJoCo simulation	None found · Nothing found. No SDK or robot model has been published for N.
NVIDIA Isaac simulation	None found · Nothing found.
Gazebo simulation	None found · Nothing found.
Best for	Professionals & labs
Vision sensors	Depth camera, Camera
Actuators	Brushless / direct-drive motors
Audio	Speaker, Microphone
Compute type	NVIDIA Jetson
Balance type	RL walking
Height	175 cm
Weight	75 kg
Compute	NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX, with an optional NVIDIA Jetson Thor
Speed	Not published
DOF	29 DoF not counting the hands, plus Highlanders' own 5-finger "HLDX" hands. 2-DoF neck (pitch and yaw). 330 N·m peak joint torque. Payload 8 kg with one arm, 12 kg with both
Sensors	1 depth camera and 2 "neural" cameras in the head, plus 2 hand cameras. Quad microphone array and 5 W speakers. All head sensors sit in the face
Balance	Walks on two legs. A deep neural network controls the whole body and plans the next walking motion about 100 times per second.
SDK	Not published. Expansion ports include 6 CAN channels and a hand serial interface

Common questions

How much does Highlanders N cost?

Not released. No price announced. Shipments are targeted for 2027, with Mitsubishi Motors' own factories as the first users (October 2026).

Can Highlanders N be bought today?

Not yet. It has been announced but is not on sale. Not on sale. Highlanders is preparing mass production for shipments starting in 2027, and the first units are planned for Mitsubishi Motors' plants. Business inquiries go to [email protected].

Who makes Highlanders N?

Highlanders N is made by Highlanders (株式会社Highlanders, Japan). It came out in 2026.

Can Highlanders N be programmed?

No programmability. Not published. Expansion ports include 6 CAN channels and a hand serial interface.

Does Highlanders N have AI chat or LLM support?

LLM plans actions. Highlanders is building its own Kepler foundation model for N. A vision-language planner at about 5 Hz breaks requests into tasks, and a fast reflex layer at about 500 Hz handles balance and force control. Kepler v1.0 is still in development, so what ships on N in 2027 is not confirmed.