Unitree R1-A5-D Smart H Humanoid Robot

Picture a robot that stands at roughly the height of an adult at a workbench, then lowers itself to well under half that height so it can be wheeled through a doorway, lifted into a vehicle or stored at the end of the day. That change of stature is the quiet design argument behind the Unitree R1-A5-D Smart H Humanoid Robot. It is a humanoid upper body with arms, head and waist, carried on a pillar above a mobile base. It is built for the people who must actually move, house and reprogramme a robot, as well as watch it perform. In practice, a platform that folds away changes how often it leaves the storeroom.

Robots Middle East sells and supplies the Unitree R1-A5-D Smart H Humanoid Robot to universities, research centres, innovation laboratories and system integrators across the Middle East. Robots Middle East prepares each quotation, agrees the configuration with the buyer, arranges delivery and provides support after the robot is commissioned. This lets an organisation plan a project around a single point of contact instead of piecing together sourcing, logistics and technical assistance.

Background

Unitree Robotics and the R1 family

Unitree Robotics is known for legged robots and humanoids that have helped bring advanced mobile robotics within reach of research and education budgets. The R1 family extends that approach in several directions, and the sources name a number of versions: R1-A5, R1-A7, R1-A5-D, R1-A7-D and the R1-A5-D Smart H described here. Read as a naming scheme, the letters and numbers separate one build from another. Every figure on this page belongs to the R1-A5-D platform on which the Smart H is based, and no figure from a sibling version is applied to it.

A mobile, dual-arm platform with an open software stack

The R1-A5-D brings together a humanoid upper body and a mobile chassis. Its joint layout covers two arms, a waist, a head, a lifting pillar and the base. Perception combines a chassis LiDAR with a binocular camera, and a wrist camera is available as an option. The joints use low-inertia, high-speed inner rotor permanent magnet synchronous motors, which Unitree chose for their responsiveness and heat dissipation. For developers, the more important point is the software. Unitree describes a mature robot development framework that supports full-process secondary development at the underlying level, so the platform can be studied, modified and extended rather than simply operated.

Technical Specifications

Specifications are as published by the manufacturer and are confirmed against the datasheet at quotation.

The manufacturer has not published the Smart H configuration, the Smart H hand specifications, the travel speed, the chassis battery capacity, the IP rating or the operating temperature, so these are confirmed at quotation.

What does the Smart H package mean for the R1-A5-D?

The R1-A5-D is the mechanical and electronic foundation, and Smart H is a named package built on it. On the manufacturer's page, the platform is the part that is documented in detail. It has the folding pillar, the joint layout with sixteen degrees of freedom before any gripper is added, the LiDAR and binocular sensing, and the open development framework. Those are the facts a buyer can plan around. The R1-A5-D is also designed to accept a choice of end effectors and compute modules. It can take a two-finger gripper, a three-finger dexterous hand or a five-finger dexterous hand, and compute modules from several brands and models, the Orin range among them. A package designation is therefore best read as a particular selection from that menu.

For a procurement team, this has a practical consequence. The exact contents of the Smart H package are set out line by line in the quotation from Robots Middle East, covering hand, compute module, wrist camera and any accessories. The buyer then compares like with like before committing. Teams weighing Smart H against the base Unitree R1-A5-D Mobile Base Dual-Arm Humanoid Robot or another package should ask for the same breakdown for each. That way the differences are explicit and not inferred from a suffix.

Why does a folding pillar matter for a humanoid robot?

Many humanoid demonstrations happen in a single room, but the projects that last tend to involve movement between rooms, buildings and sometimes cities. The R1-A5-D stands at 1600mm when raised and folds to 683mm in height, with the same footprint of 520x440mm in both states. At approximately 30kg, it sits in a weight range that a small team can handle with sensible lifting practice. For a university that shares one robot across several courses, or an integrator who takes a platform to client sites and exhibitions, those figures affect how often the robot is actually used.

The pillar is also a joint in its own right, counted within the degrees of freedom. This means the robot can change the height of its working envelope as part of a task. A manipulation study can then cover objects on a low shelf and on a table top without re-rigging the scene, and a mobile base with LiDAR lets the platform reposition itself between work areas.

Who is the Unitree R1-A5-D Smart H Humanoid Robot for?

The first group is academic: university departments in robotics, mechatronics, computer science and artificial intelligence that need a humanoid platform for teaching and research. Here, the full-stack openness of the development framework matters as much as the hardware, because students and researchers must be able to reach the underlying layers. The second group is research and innovation centres, including those linked to national technology programmes in the region. These centres explore embodied AI, perception and dual-arm manipulation, and benefit from the wide-angle binocular camera and the choice of compute modules.

The third group is system integrators and solution developers who prototype service or light industrial applications before scaling them. The fourth is organisations that run showrooms, visitor centres and technology exhibitions, where a robot that folds for transport and rises to human height for interaction is easier to manage. Buyers who already know they want a different hand or compute selection should compare the Smart H against packages such as the Unitree R1-A5-D Smart A Humanoid Robot and the Unitree R1-A5-D Smart B Humanoid Robot. The full range is gathered under Unitree R1-A5-D, and Robots Middle East can set the options side by side in one quotation.

What is the Unitree R1-A5-D Smart H Humanoid Robot used for?

1. Manipulation research: studying grasping and bimanual tasks with a choice of gripper or dexterous hand.
2. Embodied AI development: training and testing perception-to-action models on an onboard high-computing module.
3. Robotics education: giving students access to a real humanoid with an open, full-process development framework.
4. Mobile perception studies: combining chassis LiDAR and binocular vision for navigation and scene understanding.
5. Application prototyping: building proof-of-concept service or handling tasks before a larger deployment.
6. Exhibitions and visitor engagement: presenting human-scale robotics at events, then folding the robot down for transport.

Pricing and Availability

Robots Middle East supplies the Unitree R1-A5-D Smart H Humanoid Robot on a quotation basis, so that the hand, compute module, camera options and software requirements are agreed before an order is placed. Delivery, customs and support are arranged together with the quotation. To begin, please share your intended application and preferred configuration through the request form available on this page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Unitree R1-A5-D Smart H walk on legs?

No. The R1-A5-D platform is built on a mobile base with its own degrees of freedom, carrying a humanoid upper body on a lifting pillar.

How tall is the robot?

The R1-A5-D measures 1600x520x440mm when raised and 683x520x440mm when shrunk. This allows it to work at table height and fold down for transport or storage.

Which hands can be fitted?

The R1-A5-D accepts an optional two-finger gripper, three-finger dexterous hand or five-finger dexterous hand. The hand included in the Smart H package is confirmed in the quotation.

What computing power is available?

Unitree offers high-computing modules from several brands and models, such as Orin(40-100TOPS). The module supplied is agreed during quotation.

Can we develop our own software for it?

Yes. Unitree provides a mature robot development framework that supports full-process secondary development at the underlying level.

How does the robot connect to our network?

The platform supports WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 for wireless connectivity.

Where can I buy the Unitree R1-A5-D Smart H Humanoid Robot and what does it cost?

You can buy it from Robots Middle East, which supplies it across the Middle East. The cost depends on the configuration agreed, so please request a quotation through this page.

Summary

The Unitree R1-A5-D Smart H is built on the idea that a humanoid robot should fit the realities of the places it serves. It rises to human working height for manipulation and interaction, and folds down to move between rooms, campuses and events. Beneath that sits a documented platform. It has sixteen degrees of freedom before a gripper is added, chassis LiDAR with a wide-angle binocular camera, responsive inner rotor joint motors, a choice of hands and compute, and a framework open to development at every level. Robots Middle East confirms the Smart H package contents, arranges delivery and support, and helps compare it with neighbouring configurations. For any organisation in the region planning serious work with a mobile humanoid, this page is the starting point.