Humanoid Robot Baseline Performance Benchmark
NIST — Intelligent Systems DivisionThe first standardized, apparatus-based performance benchmark proposed for humanoid robots since the 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge. NIST is designing a low-footprint circuit of locomotion and manipulation tasks, drawn mostly from previously standardized NIST test methods with quantifiable performance metrics, to establish minimum performance expectations for commercially available humanoids across industrial, healthcare and home applications.
Why it matters to this index
Every score on this site is computed from published specifications — what a manufacturer discloses about its own robot, cross-checked against independent sources. That makes the index a disclosure measure, and its evidence-coverage cap is an explicit admission of the limit. A standardized apparatus run by a neutral party measures the thing the specifications only proxy for. When results from this benchmark exist, they are a stronger class of evidence than anything the index currently scores, and this page is where they will be recorded.
Capability areas
| # | Area | What it exercises |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Domain-agnostic mobility and manipulation/dexterity | Basic locomotion and hand/arm capability measured independently of any single application domain. |
| 2 | Coordinated loco-manipulation | Mobility and manipulation exercised together rather than in isolation — carrying, moving while holding, manipulating from an unstable base. |
| 3 | Whole-body awareness | Confined-space tasks that require the robot to reason about the position and clearance of its entire body, not just its end effectors. |
| 4 | Basic reasoning and scene understanding | Minimal perception and reasoning about the scene the tasks are set in. |
Apparatus
NIST will fabricate a limited number of apparatuses and distribute them free of charge to participating U.S. humanoid robot manufacturers and established regional testing facilities. The designs and 3D models are to be published so the apparatus can be used as a physical and/or virtual testbed for robot training and control development.
How to take part
- At NIST
- At a participating regional testing facility
- At the manufacturer's own site, on an apparatus received from NIST
Contacts: Dr. Benjamin Beiter (benjamin.beiter@nist.gov) · Dr. Kamel S. Saidi (kamel.saidi@nist.gov)
Results handling
Results are collected under data-sharing agreements that protect participants' intellectual property and attribution. NIST has not announced a public per-robot leaderboard.
Events
Humanoids 2026 Loco-Manipulation Challenge
The competition instantiation of the benchmark, held during the 25th IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (6–9 December 2026). One practice day and two competition days for 10–15 teams, running several cross-cutting basic tasks arranged in a circuit. Selected top humanoids are to be tested before and after the competition so participants can benchmark against them. Rules and procedures are variations on the IEEE/RAS Legged Robot Challenge. Autonomy is incentivized, but teleoperation scores points separately so the event stays accessible.
| Deadline | Date |
|---|---|
| Competition proposals due | 2026-08-03 |
| Acceptance notification | 2026-09-21 |
Recorded results
0No results have been published under this protocol for any robot in the index. This ledger records only results actually published under the protocol — never a vendor capability claim reinterpreted as a measurement, and never a figure inferred from a spec sheet. It stays empty until there is something real to put in it.
Builds on
- DARPA Robotics Challenge — DARPA, with test methods designed by NIST
- IEEE/RAS Legged Robot Challenge — IEEE Robotics and Automation Society