Overview

Astra is an upper-body humanoid robot from US company Apptronik, designed for safe collaboration with humans. It combines modular mobility with advanced actuators and dexterous hands for real-world tasks in industrial and service applications.

Design

Astra essentially consists of an upper body that can be mounted on different mobility platforms. For manipulation, it uses two Ability Hands from manufacturer Psyonic, which are intended to enable human-like dexterity. The robot is force-controlled and uses series-elastic, torque-controlled actuators, which are meant to provide the necessary compliance for work in dynamic environments and near people.

Technology and AI

Apptronik describes Astra with compact, high-quality actuators and a scalable architecture that can evolve with advances in AI and hardware. The company cites logistics, manufacturing, and service tasks as application areas.

Market Significance

Astra represents Apptronik's early work on manipulation before the focus shifted to the full humanoid robot Apollo. The product is not commercially available. Apptronik itself has become one of the best-funded companies in the industry and, according to reports from early 2026, has raised a total of 935 million dollars at a valuation of over 5 billion dollars.