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How we score

Last updated: 21 October 2026.

Every robot on Robotheca has a buildability score from 0 to 100: how complete its published files are for someone who wants to rebuild it. Robotheca computes it from the files in the robot's repository, at the version shown on the robot's page, and the same files always give the same score. It measures the documentation, not how good or how safe the robot is.

What counts

  • 3D and CAD files, 20 points: the parts to print (STL or 3MF) 10, and the CAD source (STEP, the CAD program's own files, or a linked CAD document) 10.
  • Parts list, 20 points: 5 for a parts list in the repository, up to 10 more as lines have a quantity and a price, and up to 5 more as lines have a shop link. A parts list kept outside the repository counts 10, because Robotheca can't check it.
  • Software, 15 points: code in the repository 5 (code linked in another repository 3), instructions to install or run it 5, and a named framework (ROS 2, LeRobot, Arduino…) 5.
  • Documentation, 15 points: a README of at least 1,500 characters 5, at least 3 build steps 5, and pictures 5.
  • Licenses, 10 points: a hardware license 5 and a software license 5, read from the license files.
  • Robot description, 15 points: a URDF with all its mesh files (10 when some are missing).
  • Simulation, 5 points: simulation files for MuJoCo, Gazebo, Webots or Isaac.

Parts that don't apply

Many robots that are easy to build have no URDF and no simulation, and you don't need them to build the robot. Since 21 October 2026, a robot without a URDF, or without simulation files, is not scored down for it: that part is left out, and the score is counted out of the parts that apply, then scaled to 100. For example, a robot with neither is scored out of 80 points, and 72 of 80 gives 90.

Closed parts

Each part whose design is not published, such as a control board, takes 10 points off, at most 20.

What the score means

  • 80 and more: Ready to build, when the robot has a license and is finished. Without a license it shows “Well documented, no license”; when it isn't finished, “Well documented, not finished yet”.
  • 50 to 79: Buildable with some effort.
  • Under 50: Incomplete documentation.

Each robot's page shows the points of every part, why it has them, and what would add the missing ones. Start with the robots ready to build.

Changes

  • 21 October 2026: a robot without a URDF or without simulation files is no longer scored down for it.
  • 7 October 2026: the first version of the score.