Are Legs Really Necessary? — with Alona Pammer, Tomaž Štolfa, Karol Janik & Mehrdad Farimani

​On whether legged, humanoid robots are worth the engineering cost — or a distraction from what actually ships.

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​Speakers:

​Alona Pammer (Kharchenko) — CTO & Co-founder, Devanthro. Builds "Robodies" — physical AI for every home, humanoids deployed in real homes since 2024; Forbes 30 Under 30, 11+ years in humanoid robotics.

​Tomaž Štolfa — Co-founder & CEO, Sunrise Robotics.

​Karol Janik — Robotics & Automation Technology Manager, MTC (Manufacturing Technology Centre, UK). Leads robotics/automation strategy across the UK's High Value Manufacturing Catapult centres; General Chair, European Robotics Forum 2027.

​Mehrdad Farimani — Co-founder & CTO, Merphi Consultants. Sweden-based roboticist and industrial designer specializing in humanoid robot design; contributed to Sanctuary AI's Phoenix robot; guest lecturer at Chalmers University of Technology.