It may give off supervillain vibes à la Otto Octavius, but when it comes to productivity, the six-armed industrial humanoid robot known as MIRO U is being touted as a “super humanoid” by its creators.
Chinese home appliance giant Midea unveiled MIRO U on Dec. 5, 2025, and is planning to deploy it later this month at its washing machine factory in Wuxi. It is expected that MIRO U will improve production line changeover efficiency by 30 percent there.
Midea’s chief technology officer Wei Chang said the “super humanoid” was a potential driver of industrial efficiency. MIRO U, the third generation of Midea’s humanoid robot family, is equipped with stable vertical lifting and 360-degree in situ rotation, alongside high-precision control of its six bionic arms. It can move around on wheels.
A recent commercial by Midea displays just how focused the company is on automation and robotics. The commercial echoes “The Wizard of Oz,” except the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion are played by the first-generation MIRO humanoid robot, accompanied by autonomous mobile robots. The machines converse as they travel through an ultra-sleek, high-tech factory past rows of washing machines and other appliances, ending in a digital display room where an image of a brain rotates 360 degrees in front of them.
The spectacle reflects a deeper industrial ambition. When Midea introduced MIRO U at the Greater Bay Area New Economy Forum in Guangzhou on Dec. 5, the robot immediately drew attention. With six arms branching from a single humanoid torso mounted on a wheeled base, MIRO U looked less like a novelty and more like a glimpse of an industrial future optimized for speed and scale. As the arms extended and moved in synchronized arcs during demonstrations, comparisons to comic-book characters and movie sorcerers came easily, but the purpose was unmistakably practical.
MIRO U builds on earlier generations that are already working inside Midea factories, including a washing machine plant in Jingzhou, where robots handle material transport and inspections. This iteration pushes further. Each arm is a fully actuated bionic limb designed for high-precision movement, with end effectors that can be swapped in seconds. The lower arms are responsible for heavy lifting, while the upper arms manage fine assembly and fastening, allowing the robot to carry out multiple tasks simultaneously.
Mobility comes from a heavy-duty wheeled chassis that provides both stability and flexibility. The system allows for vertical lifting to match different workstation heights and 360-degree in-place rotation so the robot can pivot without repositioning. Because the torso and head align with standard human workbench heights, MIRO U fits into existing production lines rather than requiring factories to be redesigned around it.
Midea executives have been clear that appearance was never the priority. Efficiency was. “The core value of MIRO U lies in moving beyond mere form imitation to achieve a leap in operational efficiency within industrial scenarios,” Wei said. The six-arm configuration, he added, allows the robot to perform tasks that would otherwise require several workers or multiple machines, particularly during production line changeovers.
Pilot testing at the Wuxi facility is expected to begin by the end of December. If the projected 30 percent improvement in changeover efficiency is realized, Midea plans broader deployment across its manufacturing network. The company developed the system largely in-house, drawing on years of investment in robotics and automation, including its 2017 acquisition of industrial robot maker Kuka. At the same time, Midea is developing a separate humanoid line, known as Meila, aimed at commercial and residential environments, with a release planned for 2026.
MIRO U also arrives as China accelerates its national push into humanoid robotics. Driven by government policy, subsidies and investment funds, Beijing has identified humanoid robots as a strategic industry, in part to address labor shortages linked to an aging population. The goal is large-scale commercialization by the middle of the decade and a mature domestic supply chain by 2027, leveraging China’s strengths in electric vehicles, batteries, sensors and artificial intelligence.
The market projections underscore the scale of that ambition. According to Markets and Markets, the global humanoid robot market is expected to grow from $2.03 billion in 2024 to $13.25 billion by 2029, a compound annual growth rate of 45.5 percent. Goldman Sachs has projected that the total addressable market could reach $38 billion by 2035, with shipments of 1.4 million units.
Estimates from the Shenzhen Enterprise Investment Industry Research Institute project the Chinese humanoid robot market at about $380.3 million in 2024, rising to $1.4 billion by 2026 and $10.3 billion by 2029, when it could account for nearly a third of the global market. By 2035, the market in China alone is expected to reach $41.3 billion.
Unlike traditional industrial robots that are fixed in place or limited to narrow tasks, humanoid systems are designed to operate in human-centered environments, performing complex work that demands dexterity and adaptability. That vision overlaps with the rise of embodied AI, systems that integrate perception, cognition and physical action in real-world settings. While humanoid robots are only one expression of embodied AI, they have become its most visible symbol.
