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POPPY: THE ORIGINAL 3D-PRINTED HUMANOID ROBOT

The pioneering fully 3D-printed humanoid from Inria — 83 cm tall, 25 joints, a bio-inspired bendy spine, and a real research pedigree.

by Poppy Project (Inria Flowers)

FULL CAD BOM FIRMWARE DOCS

RoboticsEducation

Built withRaspberry Pi3D printing

difficulty
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time
a serious project
license
CC-BY-SA-4.0 / GPL-3.0
repo
repo DORMANT1,071 stars

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Videos
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COMPAREE VERDICT

Poppy is a piece of history: the pioneering fully 3D-printed humanoid, from Inria's Flowers lab, with a real peer-reviewed research trail. It's 83 cm tall but only about 3.5 kg, with 25 joints and a bio-inspired bendy spine and angled thighs that give it a more natural walk — and it's controlled entirely in Python, which made it a landmark education and research platform. Two honest caveats: it runs on around 25 commercial Dynamixel servos, so it's an expensive build despite the printed plastic; and the project is largely dormant now (the last code updates were in 2021). If you want a well-documented, historically important printable humanoid to learn from, Poppy is still a fantastic reference — just source the servos with open eyes.

GOOD TO KNOW

  • —Full open hardware: CAD (STL, STEP) via GitHub Releases, Solidworks sources via Git LFS; BOM and assembly guide on the docs site
  • —No firmware in the repo — it uses commercial Robotis Dynamixel servos with their own firmware
  • —Controlled in Python (pypot) on an Odroid or Raspberry Pi
  • —The project is largely dormant — the last code updates were in 2021

Parts to buy

3 items

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

  • ~25 Robotis Dynamixel servosFind
  • Odroid XU4 or Raspberry PiFind
  • CameraFind

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Can I build this?

Printall structural parts (STL/STEP via GitHub Releases; Solidworks sources via Git LFS)
Buy~25 Robotis Dynamixel servos, an Odroid XU4 or Raspberry Pi, a camera — see the docs BOM
Tools3D printer, hex drivers, patience for a ~7 hour assembly
Skillsmechanical assembly, Python (pypot) for control
Timea serious project (assembly ~7 hours plus sourcing)
Costband $$$ — the project says about 60% of the total goes on the 25 Dynamixel servos; the BOM prices are several years old.
Safetylow-voltage; ~25 geared servos — mind fingers during calibration

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

Videos

Poppy Humanoid assembly time lapse

The official assembly time-lapse.

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Gallery

Poppy HumanoidPoppy Project (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Poppy in motionPoppy Project
Legs from the assembly guidePoppy Project
The 25-motor layoutPoppy Project

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 assembly guide (the full build)
  2. 2.Watch the assembly time-lapse (see it come together)
  3. 3.Get the BOM (~25 Dynamixel servos + compute)
  4. 4.Get the CAD (STL/STEP via GitHub Releases)
  5. 5.Install the Python control (pypot-based)

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

  • It's not 'git clone and print' — the complete CAD/BOM are in GitHub Releases and on the docs site, not the repo root
  • No firmware in the repo — it relies on commercial Dynamixel servos with their own firmware
  • The project is largely dormant (last code ~2021) — great as a reference, but don't expect active updates
  • The ~25 Dynamixel servos make it an expensive build despite the printed body

Is it really fully 3D-printed?

The structural parts are, yes: Poppy was one of the early open-source 3D-printed humanoids. The cost is in the 25 Robotis Dynamixel servos and the control computer, not the plastic.

Why the bendy spine?

Poppy uses a bio-inspired multi-segment spine and angled thighs to make walking and motion more natural — part of what made it a notable research platform.

Is it still active?

Largely dormant — the last code updates were around 2021. It remains a well-documented reference and education platform.

What does it cost?

Band $$$: the README puts a complete Poppy Humanoid at about 8,000 to 9,000 dollars, roughly 60 percent of it for the 25 Robotis Dynamixel actuators. Those prices are several years old, so check current prices before you budget.

Community builds

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

Discussion1

FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM

Poppy's multi-segment bendy spine and angled thighs were meant to make humanoid motion more natural. Was the bio-inspired complexity worth it, or is a rigid torso the pragmatic choice?

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.

Berkeley Humanoid Lite: an open-source humanoid robot whose actuators are 3D printed

●●●●● · a modern printable humanoid with RL walking

Zeroth-Bot: A Tiny Open-Source Humanoid You Can Actually Afford

●●●●○ · a smaller, cheaper open humanoid

Amazing Hand: A Fully 3D-Printed Robotic Hand

●●●○○ · add a dexterous printed hand

Poppy Project (Inria Flowers)

Inria's Flowers lab created Poppy Humanoid as an open-source, 3D-printed, Python-controlled humanoid backed by peer-reviewed research (including work on its bio-inspired thigh shape), and released it as an education and research platform.

GitHub

Star the project on GitHub

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.
GitHub repo