Kepler Robotics has unveiled "Mechanical Qilin," a heavy-duty quadruped built to haul nearly a tonne of cargo across rough terrain, debuting the platform at Shanghai's 2026 Zhangjiang Embodied AI Developer and Supply Chain Conference.
A robot mule built for heavy industry
The Shanghai company designed Qilin for in-plant material transfer, logistics, mountain transport and emergency resupply. The large-scale unit measures 2,175 x 800 x 1,630 mm, weighs roughly 300 kg, and can carry a payload approaching one tonne while running for about eight hours on a single charge. Kepler also showed a rideable variant whose lower body works as the walking mechanism while the upper body provides seating for last-mile transport of people and cargo inside industrial parks.
Humanoid actuators, quadruped body
The platform's key differentiator is its drivetrain. Kepler ported the self-developed planetary roller-screw linear actuators originally engineered for its K2 "Bumblebee" humanoid into the quadruped architecture. The screw drive avoids the vibration and energy spikes of conventional servo joints and the leakage risk of hydraulics, giving Qilin the rare combination of heavy self-weight, high payload and long endurance. In demonstrations, the chassis stayed stable with several engineers standing on its back, moved full pallets through starts, stops and turns, and towed a full-size commercial vehicle.
Part of a humanoid-plus-quadruped strategy
Kepler sees Qilin working alongside its K2 "Bumblebee" humanoid, with the two-armed robot handling fine manipulation and situational assessment while the quadruped manages heavy transport across scenarios like border patrol, emergency rescue and field logistics. The launch follows fresh investment from Hangzhou Kerun as Kepler shifts from a hardware maker toward a full-stack platform spanning hardware, real-world training data and embodied intelligence. The move puts Kepler in direct competition with quadruped specialists such as IL's ILBOT L1 MAX and embodied-AI players like AGIBOT and Lumos Robotics in China's crowded field.
Rivals including Unitree, DEEP Robotics and Boston Dynamics have all pursued load-bearing legged machines, but Qilin's tonne-scale payload and eight-hour endurance push the category toward genuinely industrial duty cycles.
Reporting based on coverage from Gasgoo Auto News and Mugglehead.