Russia’s first humanoid robot falls face-down on debut as AIDOL blames calibration glitch
Event organisers later attributed the fall to lighting and calibration problems, insisting the mishap formed part of the iterative development process.
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Russia’s first humanoid robot, developed by the robotics start-up AIDOL and sharing the same name, suffered an embarrassing setback during its public debut at a technology event in Moscow on 11 November, as it stumbled and fell face-first on stage, according to a report in The New York Times.
The six-foot-tall, 209-pound robot had been introduced as the country’s first anthropomorphic, AI-powered machine capable of walking at 3.7 miles per hour, operating autonomously for up to six hours and demonstrating emotional expressions, the company had stated.
A presentation of Aidol, a new first russian anthropomorphic robot with AI.
— Dmitry Buenkov (@dibuenio) November 11, 2025
Walked on stage to Rocky soundtrack.
Didn’t survive round one. pic.twitter.com/0Dtm6YQeo5
Reporters attending the demonstration recounted how AIDOL moved across the stage to the soundtrack of the Rocky theme before raising its right arm in a wave, at which point it appeared to lose balance, hesitate briefly and then pitch forward onto the ground. Event organisers later attributed the fall to lighting and calibration problems, insisting the mishap formed part of the iterative development process rather than signalling a deeper technical fault.
In a statement afterwards, the company remarked that it was “somewhat surprising that the fact that a robot from a small anthropomorphic robotics startup fell on stage has caused such concerns globally,” adding that they were “a bit puzzled” by the reaction when contacted for comment. AIDOL stressed that it is a small, independent team of just 14 members, entirely self-funded and operating without external investment, but maintained that it remains “the most advanced in Russia in this area and are quite comparable to leading international efforts.”
Robotics researchers cited by The Independent noted that balance, motion control and environmental sensing continue to present significant challenges for machines functioning in unpredictable real-world settings, suggesting that incidents of this nature are not uncommon in the field.
