The XPENG IRON humanoid robot made its first public appearance, but things didn’t go as planned. The sleek black machine tipped over during a presentation in a packed retail mall in Shenzhen. Fortunately, no one was injured, but the robot was a bit of a mess, and staff workers had to come and carry it away after it failed to stand up on its own.
He Xiaopeng, CEO of XPENG, responded to the incident on social media in a somewhat calm manner. He described it this way: they fall down, steady themselves, and eventually run. He described the robot’s collapse as one of the regular, everyday setbacks associated with each new development in robotics technology.
- Height, width and thickness (standing): 1270x450x200mm Height, width and thickness (folded): 690x450x300mm Weight with battery: approx. 35kg
- Total freedom (joint motor): 23 Freedom of one leg: 6 Waist Freedom: 1 Freedom of one arm: 5
- Maximum knee torque: 90N.m Maximum arm load: 2kg Calf + thigh length: 0.6m Arm arm span: approx. 0.45m Extra large joint movement space Lumbar Z-axis...
XPENG IRON robot stumbles during Shenzhen debut. Just minutes into its first offline showcase, the humanoid collapsed before the audience.
CEO He Xiaopeng responded: "It reminds me of how every child learns to walk; they fall before they can stand firm. The next step is to start… pic.twitter.com/XCOyRg3jON
— ChinaEV Home (@CNEVhome) February 2, 2026
This was the most recent version of IRON to be released, and after its debut in late 2025, XPENG went back to the drawing board to completely revamp it. They’d always wanted the robot to move and look more human-like, so they worked hard on a bionic spine, flexible skin that wraps around the body, and even customizable body proportions that allow you to choose alternative forms or gender traits.
As a result, the robot now stands 1.73 meters tall and weighs 70 kilograms, and it has some serious muscle under the hood, with 82 degrees of freedom to be exact, and each of those hand things has a respectable 22 degrees of freedom to give you that sort of grip on delicate things or even just doing some small tasks. Then there’s the vision system, which has a 720-degree field of view and gives the impression that the robot is completely aware of everything around it. All of this is powered by 3,000 TOPS of computational power, which comes from three custom-built Turing AI chips that handle everything from perception to motion.
This robot’s power comes from an all-solid-state battery, which is groundbreaking for humanoid robots due to its much higher energy density, reduced weight, and increased safety. You’re already familiar with the walk, as some were claiming it was as smooth as silk, and people wondered if someone was manipulating it from afar, but in its most recent outing, it shown that it can move on its own.
However, XPENG has big plans for the IRON, including reception jobs, retail labor, guided tours, and other tasks similar to those found in a shop or restaurant. They’re already planning to begin mass manufacturing by the end of 2026, with output ramping up early the next year. What about the minor mishap at the mall? That was simply part of the robot’s big debut, an opportunity to test it in a real-world setting rather than a sterile lab.
