Orientation

Quickstart: Before You Begin

Read this first. The VLAI L1 is a complete dual-arm mobile manipulator — not a kit, not a DIY build. It arrives assembled and operational. This page orients you on tier selection, delivery setup, and what you will have running at the end of day one.

First Decision

Which Tier Is Right for You?

All four L1 tiers share the same chassis, dual arms, and CAN-FD joint control. The differentiators are onboard compute, software bundle, and warranty.

Youth Edition
~$3,950
2 kg payload. CAN2.0 bus. Basic motion only — no SDK or ROS2 bundle. Best for: education, lab demonstrations, mechanical integration testing.
Developer
~$8,050
6 kg payload. CAN-FD 5 Mbps. Full SDK + ROS2 + MuJoCo/Isaac Sim. Best for: software development, ROS2 research, dataset collection with arms only.
Recommended for Research
Developer Pro
~$12,150
6 kg payload. V3 compute (70 TOPS). VR teleop included. VLA training bundle. 1-year warranty. Best for: imitation learning, teleoperation data collection, VLA deployment.
Developer Max
~$17,600
6 kg payload. V5 compute (128 TOPS). Wrist cameras included. Agent integration SDK. Priority support. Best for: full autonomy research, on-device VLA inference, production teleoperation.

US ordering: RoboticsCenter is the US distributor. Lead time is typically 6–8 weeks from order confirmation. Contact us for a quote →

Time Commitment

How Long Does Day-One Setup Take?

The L1 arrives assembled. First-day setup is software and calibration only.

Unboxing & inspection
~30m
Unpack, inspect dual arms, check gripper mounts, verify wheel function
SDK & network setup
~20m
pip install, connect to local network, rc connect --device l1
Dual-arm calibration
~30m
ROS2 joint calibration, MoveIt2 home position, gripper calibration
Mobile base test
~20m
WASD drive test, lift height range (106–162 cm), speed calibration
First manipulation task
~30m
Bimanual pick-and-place, MoveIt2 motion planning
First teleop session
~30m
Browser teleop panel, session recording, episode review

Total first-day time: 2–3 hours. The L1 is the fastest to productive research of any platform we sell, because all mechanical work is done at the factory.

What You Need

Pre-Delivery Checklist

Prepare your lab before the L1 arrives. The robot itself is delivered ready to run.

  • ✓
    Clear floor space: 3 m × 3 m minimum The L1's mobile base needs clearance. The dual arms extend up to 900 mm per side. Plan for a 3 m working diameter around the default parking position.
  • ✓
    Standard 120V AC power outlet (US) The L1 powers from a standard wall outlet via its onboard battery management system. No special wiring needed. Battery runtime: approximately 4 hours of active operation.
  • ✓
    Local WiFi network (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz) The L1 connects to your local network for SDK communication and the browser teleop panel. Enterprise/guest network restrictions may block the default SDK port (8888) — check with IT in advance.
  • ✓
    Host PC or laptop Python 3.10+. Ubuntu 22.04 recommended for full ROS2 + MoveIt2 stack. macOS or Windows work for SDK-only control without ROS2. Minimum: 16 GB RAM for VLA inference.
  • ✓
    VR headset (Developer Pro and Max tiers) Meta Quest 2/3 or equivalent for VR teleoperation. The L1 Developer Pro bundle includes the VR teleop client. Quest 3 recommended for lower latency.
  • ✓
    Camera tripod or fixed mount (for workspace camera) The Developer Max tier includes wrist cameras. All tiers benefit from a fixed overhead camera for workspace monitoring during data collection.
End Goal

What You Can Do After Day-One Setup

✓ Drive the L1 mobile base via WASD browser panel with 2 m/s precision, adjustable lift height 106–162 cm
✓ Execute bimanual pick-and-place tasks using MoveIt2 motion planning on both 8-DOF arms simultaneously
✓ Teleoperate both arms via VR headset (Developer Pro/Max) and record synchronized joint state + camera episodes
✓ Run the Python SDK to command arm trajectories, read joint state, and control the mobile base programmatically
✓ Record and push teleoperation datasets to HuggingFace Hub for VLA model fine-tuning
✓ Run on-device VLA inference (Developer Pro/Max) for closed-loop policy deployment without a host PC

Ready? Start the Setup Guide.

The L1 arrives assembled — setup is software and calibration only. About 2 hours.

Step 1: Unboxing & Setup → Request a Quote View Full Specs