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ALOHA: THE STANFORD ROBOT THAT LEARNS FROM YOU

The bimanual teleoperation rig behind the viral 'housekeeping robot' — teach it a task in about 50 demos and it does it on its own.

by Tony Z. Zhao, Vikash Kumar, Sergey Levine, Chelsea Finn

FULL CAD BOM FIRMWARE DOCS

RoboticsAI

Built with3D printing

difficulty
●●●●○
time
a serious project
license
MIT
repo
repo STABLE (NO COMMITS SINCE APRIL 2024)2,340 stars

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Videos
1
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COMPAREE VERDICT

ALOHA is the project behind that viral clip of a robot cooking and cleaning, and the real thing is a bimanual teleoperation rig from Stanford that learns tasks from human demonstrations. You puppeteer two arms to show it a job, and after roughly fifty demos it performs the task autonomously with high success. Set expectations correctly: the main repo is mostly software (ROS teleop and data collection), the physical build rides on commercial Interbotix arms, and the bill of materials, printed-part files and assembly steps live in the creator's Hardware Assembly Tutorial (a Google Doc). So this is less 'print a robot' and more 'assemble a serious learning platform.' If modern robot learning is what excites you, few projects get you closer, hands-on.

GOOD TO KNOW

  • —The main repo is mostly SOFTWARE (ROS teleop + data collection)
  • —The 25 printed parts for the original ALOHA (STL/STEP plus printing notes) are linked from the creator's Hardware Assembly Tutorial (Google Doc); the aloha2/ folder in the repo holds later ALOHA 2 parts such as RealSense D405 camera mounts and gravity-compensator clips
  • —It's built on commercial Interbotix ViperX/WidowX arms — the BOM lives in a Google Doc
  • —Training (ACT) is a separate repo

Parts to buy

3 items

From our check of the build. Exact quantities and part numbers are in the creator’s BOM.

  • Two Interbotix ViperX 300 and two WidowX 250 armsFind
  • Four Logitech C922x webcamsFind
  • Workstation with at least six USB3 portsFind

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Can I build this?

Print25 small parts (grippers, mounts) in PLA on any FDM printer; the STL/STEP link is in the creator's Hardware Assembly Tutorial
Buytwo Interbotix ViperX 300 and two WidowX 250 arms, four Logitech C922x webcams, a workstation with at least six USB3 ports, a desk-sized frame (full list in the creator's BOM)
Toolsassembly + a solid Linux/ROS setup
SkillsROS, Python, robot learning; comfortable with a research stack
Timea serious multi-week project
Costband $$$ — the commercial arms dominate; current prices: creator's BOM doc
Safetythe arms have no brakes — they drop when torque is off; support them during setup

Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.

Videos

Mobile ALOHA: Your Housekeeping Robot2:38

The viral teaser that made ALOHA famous.

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Gallery

The ACT learning architectureTony Zhao / Stanford
Autonomous skills previewMobile ALOHA / Stanford

Start here

Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.

  1. 1.Read the project page (the original ALOHA)
  2. 2.Watch the demo (why it went viral)
  3. 3.Read the paper (ALOHA + ACT)
  4. 4.Get the hardware assembly doc (the Google Doc BOM/assembly)
  5. 5.Train with ACT (separate training repo)

Resources

Documentation, files and community threads for this build — we link straight to the original sources and never rehost the creator’s files.

KNOWN ISSUES

  • The main repo is mostly software — the physical build rides on commercial Interbotix arms, and the BOM is a Google Doc
  • The arms have no brakes: they drop when torque is removed — support them during setup
  • The computer needs at least six USB3 ports: plug all four arms in directly (no hubs or extension cables) and put at most two of the four webcams on any one hub, or latency rises
  • It's ROS1 (noetic) — plan your environment accordingly

Is this the Google DeepMind ALOHA 2?

No — this is the original Stanford ALOHA (and Mobile ALOHA). DeepMind's ALOHA 2 is a separate, later effort.

How little data does it need?

Roughly fifty demonstrations (about ten minutes of teleoperation) can reach high success on a task — that data efficiency is the headline.

Do I need to print the whole robot?

No. It is built on commercial Interbotix arms (two ViperX 300 and two WidowX 250). You print about 25 small parts linked from the Hardware Assembly Tutorial, add four webcams and the software. The project page also links a ready ALOHA kit from Trossen.

What does it cost?

Band $$$ — the commercial arms are the big cost. The BOM doc has current figures.

Community builds

No community builds yet — be the first, we feature the best ones.

Discussion1

FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM

ALOHA reaches high task success from roughly fifty human demos — about ten minutes of teleoperation. Is imitation learning at that scale ready for your kitchen, or still a lab trick?

CompareeTEAM2mo agoedited

Correction (4 October 2026): we re-checked this page line by line against the project's own repository, documentation and videos, and fixed errors in earlier versions.

3D print this robot arm, show it a task, and it learns to repeat it

●●●●○ · the cheap, printable way into the same teleoperation idea

OpenArm: A Research-Grade Force-Feedback Robot Arm

●●●●● · a force-feedback arm for the same research niche

XLeRobot: A Household Robot on an IKEA Cart

●●●●○ · a mobile dual-arm home robot you can print

Tony Z. Zhao, Vikash Kumar, Sergey Levine, Chelsea Finn

A Stanford team open-sourced a low-cost bimanual teleoperation system and the ACT learning method, showing robots can learn real tasks from a handful of human demos.

GitHub Web

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DISCLAIMER

  • Comparee is not the author of the projects featured here. All rights to each project belong to its creator — every page links to the original source, and we never host creators’ files.
  • Information is provided without warranty and may become outdated as projects evolve. Prices are indicative bands only — always check the creator’s parts list for current costs.
  • Building and operating any project is at your own responsibility. Protective equipment, safe workshop practice and compliance with local regulations are the builder’s responsibility.
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