Qiyuan Robotics
Category: Robotics / Embodied AI
Consumer personal-robot brand (PrimeBOT/上纬启元) under STAR-Market-listed 上纬新材, launched by AgiBot co-founder Peng Zhihui, maker of the Qiyuan Q1 and Qiyuan T1 home humanoids. Qiyuan Robotics was founded in 2025. The company is led by 田华 (Tian Hua). Based in Shanghai, China. Team size: 101-500. Latest round: Corporate Round. Key investors include Parent 上纬新材 (688585.SH) controlled by AgiBot (智元机器人) via 智元恒岳/致远新创; no independent Qiyuan VC investors disclosed.
- Founded
- 2025
- Headquarters
- Shanghai, China
- Team size
- 101-500
Value proposition
Brings humanoid robots into the home as affordable, safe, customizable "personal intelligent terminals" — not just task-doers. Q1 is a compact 88cm DIY-role companion robot; T1 is the world's first transformable personal robot that switches between wheel-foot humanoid (indoor) and quadruped (outdoor) modes.
Products and solutions
Qiyuan Q1 (启元 Q1): 88cm, ~15kg foldable small humanoid with egg-sized self-developed micro QDD quasi-direct-drive joints, full-body flexible force control, fully open-source exterior structure for 3D-printed DIY roles, A'Design Award gold, Qiyuan T1 (启元 T1): world's first transformable personal robot with Transformer cross-morph architecture (wheel-foot humanoid + quadruped), ~5kg payload, ~90kg traction, long-term memory dialogue, Insta360 Luna camera integration for content creation.
Unique value
First consumer humanoid brand to open public preorders (Aug 23, 2026) for home robots, combining compact/safe design, open-source customizable shells, and a transformable humanoid-quadruped form factor — backed by a listed-company supply chain and AgiBot's embodied-AI stack.
Target customer
Consumer households (children's embodied-AI companions, young-adult tech toys, tech-enthusiast assistants, professional developers/experimenters); also research, education and home-companion segments.
Industries served
Consumer robotics / home humanoids, embodied AI, education, content creation, research & development platforms.
Technology advantage
Self-developed micro QDD quasi-direct-drive joints (egg-sized, 1/8 weight of traditional); Transformer cross-morph architecture; full-body flexible force control; "智元灵心" AI platform; open-source hardware + zero-code programming ecosystem; 273 patents applied; 227-person R&D team (67%+ masters/PhD) led by Peking University chief scientist Dong Hao.
How they differentiate
Focuses on compact, safe, customizable home companions rather than large task-doing humanoids; open-source DIY shells and zero-code programming create a "养成/collectible" consumer ecosystem; transformable humanoid-quadruped T1 covers both indoor and outdoor use; leverages a listed-company manufacturing supply chain for rapid mass production.
Main competitors
Unitree Robotics (宇树科技), UBTech (优必选), AgiBot (智元机器人, parent), 乐聚 Leju Robotics, 众擎 Engine AI
Key partnerships
蓝思智能机器人 (Lens Technology subsidiary, 10,000-unit-scale production line), 卧龙电驱 (Wolong Electric, core components), 拓竹 Bambu Lab (3D-printed shells), 影石 Insta360 (Luna camera integration), Peking University & JD.com (RealAppliance dataset).
Notable customers
Consumer households via official mini-program, Tmall, Douyin, Bilibili stores, research/education institutions.
Major milestones
Dec 31, 2025: Qiyuan Q1 launched (world's first small full-body force-control humanoid), Jul 2026: Qiyuan T1 launched (world's first transformable personal robot), Aug 23, 2026: public preorders opened for Q1 & T1 (first shipments Sep 2026), 2026 WAIC & ChinaJoy pre-orders.
Market positioning
Early mover in the consumer-grade home humanoid market in China, positioning robots as "personal intelligent terminals" (like smartphones) rather than industrial tools; first to open public preorders for home humanoids (Aug 2026). Competes in a China-dominated global humanoid market where parent AgiBot leads at ~39-43% share, Unitree ~31-32%, UBTech ~7%.
Geographic focus
China (Shanghai HQ; offline experience stores in 7 core cities incl. Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai); CES presence in Las Vegas.
Patents and IP
273 patents applied as of June 2026; open-source exterior structure design for Q1.
About 田华 (Tian Hua)
Ex-Huawei "Genius Youth" (天才少年) at Huawei Shanghai AI Lab (Ascend AI chips & AI algorithms, 2020-2022); Co-founder, President & CTO of AgiBot (智元机器人, founded Feb 2023); B.E. & M.S. from University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC); Bilibili top-100 UP主 with 2.8M+ followers.
Latest news about Qiyuan Robotics
More Robotics / Embodied AI companies
Official website: https://www.primebot.cn/
