PAL Robotics has been steadily working up to releasing a full size humanoid robot for some time and now REEM-C is ready. You can order one, and get a special deal if you are among the first.

PAL Robotics started out by building two special humanoid robots - REEM-A to play chess and a general purpose service robot, REEM, that dispensed with legs and could roll around on wheels interacting with people. Wheels are highly practical in some situations but we all know that a humanoid robot should have legs and be capable of walking if it is going to capture the imagination.  

REEM-C is the latest in the PAL line of robots and it looks the part. It is PAL's first commercial offering and you can buy one and get a promotional offer if you sign up for one before August 31st this year. 

The robot is aimed at academic and research users - humanoid robots still aren't up to being offered for sale to do a particular job. It is 165cm tall, about the size of an average human, and weighs in at 70Kg. It has 44 degrees of freedom and can lift a kilo. It comes with two Intel i7 computers, force/torque sensors and range finders in its feet, stereo cameras, four microphones,  and other built in devices. You can also attach a depth camera to its head.

From the software point of view, REEM-C is a ROS compatible robot and comes with an SDK. However, if you want to get it to do something specific then the chances are you are going to have to develop the software yourself - that's what a research robot is all about.

You can see bits of it in action in the following promo video:

Given the success of the Nao robot for all sorts of problems, it might well be time for a "mass market" full sized humanoid robot.