(MENAFN- Robotics & Automation News) Franka unveils two new robot prototypes for advanced robotics research

September 29, 2025 by David Edwards

Franka Robotics has introduced two new research-focused prototypes designed to advance work in dual-arm manipulation, imitation learning, and mobile robotics.

The systems – the Franka Research 3 Duo and its mobile counterpart, the Mobile FR3 Duo – are aimed at providing high-performance, extensible platforms for robotics learning and experimentation.

The FR3 Duo integrates two Franka Research 3 robot arms on a single mount, creating a reference dual-arm system for control, manipulation, and imitation learning tasks.

Each arm offers seven degrees of freedom, lightweight construction for human-scale operation, and integrated torque sensors for dexterity and safety.

The package includes grippers, a torso mount with cover, and multiple cameras positioned on the head, torso, and wrists.

The platform is fully compatible with ROS 2 and gives researchers access to the Franka Control Interface at 1 kHz, enabling fast interaction for teleoperation and dual-arm control. Extension points on the torso allow additional equipment to be added for specific research needs.

The Mobile FR3 Duo builds on this architecture, integrating the same dual-arm system with Franka's Tactile Mobile Robot base. The mobile platform is equipped with 14 torque sensors, two LiDARs, eight cameras, an IMU, and Nvidia AGX Orin onboard computing.

With a compact footprint (800 × 580 × 294 mm), a top speed of 1.75 m/s, and a payload capacity of 3 kg per arm, it is designed for autonomous exploration, AI-based interaction, and complex tasks in dynamic environments.

Both systems share a unified architecture, including a common control interface and pre-integrated components, intended to lower barriers to deployment and accelerate real-world robotics research.

The new robots were launched at Automatica 2025, where they attracted strong interest from researchers exploring mobile manipulation, embodied AI, and human-robot interaction.

Franka Robotics said the prototypes reflect months of development across engineering, design, and integration, culminating in demonstrations that sparked extensive conversations with the research community.

According to the company, feedback from the trade fair underscored the potential of the FR3 Duo and Mobile FR3 Duo to support a wide spectrum of activities – from teleoperated demonstrations and data collection to model inference and deployment in real-world environments.

Franka Robotics added that it will continue refining the prototypes based on input from early users, positioning the systems as tools for advancing collaborative and AI-driven robotics research.

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