Proteusby Outis Talk to us

Change shape.
Get to work.

Proteus is a robot made of identical modules that changes its shape during the task: a walker over rubble, a chain through a small opening, a braced structure that works with force on site. First where people still have to go in. Then everywhere.

Watch the mission See the real hardware

Built byengineers from

  • RWTH Aachen University
  • NEURA Robotics
  • Fraunhofer IPK
  • Tsinghua University
  • Roland Berger
  • Viega
  • Berliner Hochschule für Technik
  • HKUST
  • WZL of RWTH Aachen University
  • Horváth
  • Antler

01 · Built, not rendered

The first module is real.

MK1 module with two actuated heads, docks that carry load and a test rig for powered docking. Single takes on our bench, with date.

Prototype
Docks that carry loadLoad-bearing since 4 Oct 2026 · the docked parts hang from one dock · take of 8 Oct
Prototype
The latch, up close9 Oct 2026 · two faces latched by hand
Prototype
Moves under its own powerPowered since 16 Oct 2026 · head tilt and extension by its six actuators · take of 20 Oct

588

ways two modules can dock: 14 × 14 faces, 3 orientations each

34

claims, utility model filed with the DPMA, 21 Oct 2026

463

automated tests in our 17,800-line planner

02 · The problem

Someone still has to go in first.

Process vessels, columns, voids in collapsed buildings: today the work behind a small opening means opening the equipment or a confined-space entry with permits and a standby attendant. Tools slim enough to fit cannot apply force at reach; robots strong enough to work do not fit.

>60%

of deaths in confined spaces are would-be rescuers who went in after someone else.

NIOSH, Publication 86-110 ↗

1,030

workers died from injuries involving a confined space in the US from 2011 to 2018.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics ↗

130

rescuers of Ukraine's State Emergency Service killed on duty since February 2022.

SES Ukraine, via UNN, 17 Sep 2026 ↗

Send a robot. Lose a module, not a person.

03 · The shift

Every fixed-shape robot fails one phase of the job.

A fixed robot is built for the hardest moment of its mission and carries that shape everywhere. Proteus changes shape per phase: it walks, slips through as a chain, braces and works with force, then walks back.

Mission profile, side section to scale The rescue team waits behind the barrier at the left. The robot modules start as a heap in front of the barrier, cross the open street over rubble, bridge a 0.9 m wide, 1.6 m deep ravine whose footbridge is gone, enter the cellar of a collapsed building through a 25 cm gap in the slab, check column C2 and come back. 1 2 3 4 5 6 RESCUE TEAM waits behind the barrier HEAP OF MODULES OPEN STREET · RUBBLE COLLAPSED BUILDING 25 cm GAP IN THE SLAB CELLAR COLUMN C2 inspect 1 m

1Self-assembly

A crate, not a crew.

The modules arrive as a heap at the barrier, dock and stand up as a walker.

2Walker

Walks where wheels stop.

Carries the sensor over rubble. Nobody crosses the open street.

3Bridge

Brings its own bridge.

Computed statics: 30 modules over a 1.0 m gap, 92–96 N peak rod force while a 1 kg case crosses.

4Chain

25 cm is enough.

Part of the walker anchors at the slab; a chain carries the sensor down.

5Braced manipulator

A measurement, not a guess.

Braced against floor and column, it presses the ultrasonic sensor on with force a snake cannot give.

6Walker again

The team goes in knowing.

Back through the gap, re-form, walk out. Next job, next shape.

Which robot gets the whole job done?

What each option can do in the mission, our assessment
Mission stepPersonLegged robotTracked robotDroneSnake robotProteus
Keeps people out of the danger zoneNoYesYesYesYesYes
Crosses rubble and gapsAt riskYesSmall gapsFliesNoWalker, bridge
Passes a 250 mm openingNoNoSmall units onlySmall units, no contactYesAs a chain
Applies force at 1 m reach behind itYesNoNoNoLittle force at reachBraced, 200 N target
One kit for every shape of jobn/aNoNoNoNoYes

Swipe to compare all options →

04 · Why it works

Enter as a chain. Work as a structure.

The gain is leverage. In a chain, actuators about 2 cm from each joint axis hold the tool load in bending, so force and stiffness collapse with reach. Braced, two supports about 40 cm apart hold it and the struts carry the load along their axes. Force grows with that ratio, stiffness with its square.

Load paths: A, a chain carries the tool load in bending at every joint; B, the same modules braced on the rim and a wall carry it axially. A · CHAIN: JOINTS IN BENDING B · BRACED: STRUTS AXIAL
Schematic. Marked joints carry the tool moment through actuators about 2 cm from their axis.
Tool force
35× braced vs. as a chain, same four MK1.1 modules, tool 1.0 m deep; computed statics, not a measurement
Stiffness
560× braced vs. as a chain in the same computed statics; docks assumed rigid
Stage 1 target
200 N held 60 s within 5 mm at 18 of 20 working positions, at most 6 kg of modules; 10× the lift load of a compact arm (Reach Alpha 5, 19.6 N)

05 · The module

Everything is made of one part.

An actuated strut with a docking head at each end. Built many times over, it becomes whatever the job needs. That part, its docks and its reconfiguration under load are what we build, protect and qualify.

Side view of one Proteus module: a slim strut with a docking head at each end, three linear actuators per end, numbered callouts 1 to 4. head-to-head span 410–610 mm Ø ~110 mm 1 2 3 4
Schematic, not to scale. MK1.2 today; MK3 doubles the actuator force in the same envelope.
  1. Docking headA truncated octahedron with seven load-bearing dock faces, 14 per module, mating in three orientations; hooks interlock with the partner head.
  2. Six degrees of freedomAt each end, three self-locking linear actuators tilt the head by up to 50° and extend it: a head-to-head span of 410 to 610 mm.
  3. One strut, many rolesLeg, beam, chain link or brace: the same part, about 110 mm across and 0.45 m long.
  4. Power through the dockSpring contacts pass 24 V between modules. Tool and sensor modules carry the same head: a gripper with force sensing and camera, an ultrasonic or camera probe, brace feet.

Planner studies on the exact MK1.1 kinematics.

Planner · MK1.1 kinematics
From a compact stack to a chain9 docking steps · 362 poses checked for rod stroke, head tilt, dock faces and collisions · kinematics only
Planner · MK1.1 kinematics
One unit changes its anchorThe sequence of our hardware test rig · kinematics only

06 · First job

We start where the access is defined.

Every generation goes into the field as soon as it can do real work. The first: retrieving and placing objects without human entry in hazardous, confined or unstructured spaces. Stage 1 tests it in a guarded mock plant hall with three equipment mock-ups; Stage 2 moves the task family onto real equipment with a plant partner.

Stage 1 task specification
AccessØ250 mm side openings at 0.4 to 0.8 m height
EquipmentA vessel, a column section and an exchanger head with changeable internals
CommandOne per run: the unit and the task. No teleoperation
Task ARetrieve a foreign object of up to 1 kg: a bolt, a hand tool, a gasket piece
Task BPlace a sensor logger at a marked spot with 20 N ±5 N contact force
Way outWithdraw through the same opening, stow, move on

6/10

complete task chains on unseen layouts

18/20

working positions holding the target force, in 3 load-bearing configurations

200

physically validated configurations from one module family, the Challenge target

200N

usable tool force, held 60 s within 5 mm, 10× a compact arm's lift load

Our Stage 1 targets in the SPRIND Next Frontier Robotics Challenge, 13 Nov 2026 to 30 Sep 2027.

First

Energy and industrial plants

Vessels, columns and exchangers: retrieve, inspect and place sensors through nozzles and manways. No confined-space entry, fewer openings, less downtime per intervention.

Next

Civil protection and rescue

Inspect collapsed structures and voids before anyone enters. The first look costs a module, not a rescuer.

Dual-use

Defense maintenance and protection

Aircraft fuel tanks, vehicle hulls, ordnance disposal and CBRN reconnaissance. Never weapons, munitions or fire control.

07 · Our vision

Intelligence should choose its body.

Proteus makes the body programmable.

Our goal is a pool of thousands of small modules that becomes whatever machine a task needs, and splits into a team of machines when there is more than one task: on a factory floor, in a home or on a space station.

A humanoid has one body. Proteus has as many as the work requires.

Read our vision

08 · Team

Ruben Estrella CTO

Mechanical engineer, M.Eng. from BHT Berlin (1.1 with distinction). Two years of mechanical design at Fraunhofer IPK, where he developed, built and tested a high-speed micro-milling spindle. Inventor of the Proteus module: designed its docks and mechanisms and built the powered prototype and the docking test rig.

LinkedIn ↗

Yannik Trinn CEO

Physical AI at NEURA Robotics and consulting at Roland Berger. Two M.Sc. degrees from RWTH Aachen and Tsinghua University. Two master craftsman certificates (Meisterbriefe) in metal and electrical engineering.

LinkedIn ↗

Where do you still send people first?

Tell us the opening, the ground and the job. Plant operators, rescue services, integrators, research programs and investors: we want the hard cases.

yannik.trinn@outis-robotics.com LinkedIn