Prototype
Alex
Boardwalk Robotics
PrivateDeveloped practical upper-body humanoids focused on high-speed industrial manipulation.
Founded 2017Undisclosed raised
Developed practical upper-body humanoids focused on high-speed industrial manipulation.
Boardwalk Robotics was an American robotics company founded in 2017 in Pensacola, Florida, as the commercial partner of the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). The company focused on practical humanoid robotics, developing upper-body manipulation systems designed to automate industrial work without the added complexity of bipedal locomotion. Its flagship platform, Alex, was a humanoid upper torso with 19 degrees of freedom engineered for high-speed, human-like manipulation in manufacturing and logistics. By eliminating legs, Boardwalk prioritized faster arm motion, lower system complexity, and quicker commercial deployment. In December 2024, the company was acquired by Foundation Robotics Labs, with its technology becoming part of Foundation’s broader general-purpose humanoid robotics program.
Platform maturity, autonomy stack, and flagship-system specifications in one view.
A concise view of platform maturity and deployment footprint.
In December 2024, Boardwalk was acquired by Foundation Robotics Labs. The robot was renamed Phantom, and Foundation began piloting the platform in industrial use cases.
Boardwalk Robotics was founded in 2017 by Jerry Pratt, a veteran researcher at IHMC. The institute is legendary in bipedal robotics, its team took second place at the DARPA Robotics Challenge using a Boston Dynamics Atlas.
Boardwalk's most visible collaboration was co-designing Nadia, IHMC's advanced research humanoid named after Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci. The company's expertise spans mechanical design, software and control, and robot testing.
Boardwalk entered the commercial market with Alex, a workforce humanoid upper torso for manufacturing, logistics, and maintenance. Alex focused on advanced manipulation from a stable base rather than bipedal locomotion.
In December 2024, Boardwalk was acquired by Foundation Robotics Labs. The robot was renamed Phantom, and Foundation began piloting the platform in industrial use cases.
