Towards Real-World Robotics: Takeaways from Launching the FR3 Duo Prototype and its Mobile Counterpart

At Automatica 2025, we presented two new prototypes that drew strong interest from roboticists: the Franka Research 3 Duo and its mobile counterpart, the Mobile FR3 Duo. Both prototypes reflect a focused effort to provide high-performance, extensible systems for advanced (mobile) manipulation and robotics learning research.  
We were encouraged by the response. Visitors shared ideas, asked insightful questions, and immediately saw connections between the systems and their own work – in labs, and in the field.  Below is a short summary of what we presented.

A Dual-Arm robot, Ready to Use
FR3 Duo combines two of our Franka Research 3 robot arms on a single mount, delivering a reference dual-arm system for control, manipulation and imitation learning. Out-of-the-box, it minimizes integration overhead and speeds up time to research.
Each Arm features 7 degrees of freedom, joints with integrated torque sensors, and a lightweight, human-scale form factor designed for safety and dexterity. The system includes:
· Two robot arms
· Torso mount and cover
· Grippers
· Head-mounted stereo camera, plus torso and wrist cameras

The system is fully compatible with ROS 2 and enables high-frequency access via the Franka Control Interface (FCI) at 1 kHz. This makes it particularly well-suited for research in areas such as imitation learning, dual-arm manipulation, and teleoperation – without the complexity of building a custom setup.
Extension points on the torso support additional equipment, allowing researchers to tailor the system to their specific needs.

From Stationary to Mobile: The Mobile FR3 Duo
Mobile FR3 Duo extends the same dual-arm architecture onto the Tactile Mobile Robot (TMR) base – resulting in a tightly integrated mobile manipulation system. The design emphasizes real-world deployment: from autonomous exploration and data collection to AI-based interaction in dynamic environments.
It combines:
· The full bimanual capabilities of the FR3 Duo
· A compact mobile base (800 × 580 × 294 mm) with a top speed of 1.75 m/s
· 14 torque sensors, 2 LiDARs, 8 cameras, and 1 IMU
· NVIDIA AGX Orin onboard compute for demanding user workloads
· Modular mounting frame and interface ports for extensibility

With a payload capacity of 3 kg per Arm and 855 mm reach, the system is capable of complex, coordinated tasks in dynamic environments. The low-latency control loop via FCI supports interaction with objects and people alike, while the onboard perception stack enhances autonomy and responsiveness.

Reflections from Automatica
Behind these prototypes was a significant effort by the Franka team – across engineering, design, operations, and logistics. From early concept to fully functional systems on display, the work spanned months of development, integration, and testing. Preparing for the trade fair brought it all together, and it was rewarding to see the systems presented in a way that sparked so many meaningful conversations.
Throughout the event, we had valuable discussions with researchers working on mobile manipulation, learning-based control, and human-robot interaction. Many saw potential in these systems for embodied AI experiments, collaborative robotics, and fast iteration on control strategies.
What resonated most was the unified architecture across both the stationary and mobile variants: a shared control interface, pre-integrated components, and design choices that reduce the usual friction in deploying complex robotic systems.
Together, the FR3 Duo and its mobile counterpart cover the full spectrum of activities for the robotics learning community — from teleoperated demonstration to data collection in the real world, to onboard model inference and deployment.
We’re continuing to refine both prototypes based on this feedback – and we’re excited to see where this momentum leads. For us, Automatica 2025 wasn’t just a showcase; it marked the beginning of a new chapter in our commitment to making advanced robotics research more accessible, extensible, and real-world ready.

To learn more or request early access to prototypes: lp.franka.de/upcomingproducts