IHMC began US Army field testing of its Alex humanoid robot. Alex is a 179 cm, 85 kg machine with 29 degrees of freedom. It carries its own batteries, computers and sensors. It can travel at 1.5 m/s and run for two hours per charge. It uses hybrid control for remote operation and onboard AI. It walked untethered on rocky gravel and uneven pavement in May 2026. It won $100,000 in the US Army’s Xtech Humanoid Competition. It demonstrated digging with a dexterous hand but dropped its shovel. It was carried away on a gurney after the demo. The Pentagon is accelerating humanoid development amid global competition.
What changed
Alex was tethered to external equipment for power and computing.
What it unlocks
Untethered outdoor mobility on uneven terrain with hybrid autonomy.
- $24.8M naval research contract for Alex
- 179 cm tall, 85 kg weight
- 29 degrees of freedom
- 1.5 m/s top speed
What you need to act on it
- Pentagon funding
- military field testing approval
Sources