Franka Research 3 Cobot (FR3)

A Research Platform, Not Just a Small Cobot

Franka Research 3 is primarily designed as an experimental platform for robotics and artificial intelligence rather than as a conventional production cobot. Its seven joints give it greater freedom of movement than a typical six-axis arm, allowing researchers to investigate alternative postures, obstacle avoidance, complex manipulation and more human-like movements.

A torque sensor in every joint provides information about the forces acting throughout the arm. This is useful for experiments involving physical contact, compliant motion, force control and interaction with people or uncertain objects. Its 3 kg payload and 855 mm reach make it particularly suitable for laboratories, universities, corporate research teams and organisations developing new robotic products.

Franka’s documentation limits the robot’s intended use to research and development in academic and industrial environments. It is designed for indoor use and must be installed upright on a suitable stable base. It should therefore be viewed as a highly capable research instrument rather than a general-purpose arm intended for unrestricted deployment in any environment.

Control, Sensing and Software

One of FR3’s main strengths is the depth of access it provides to the robot’s control and sensor data. Through the Franka Control Interface, researchers can send joint or Cartesian commands and receive robot measurements at up to 1 kHz. Available measurements include joint positions, velocities and torques, as well as Cartesian position and force information.

This level of access supports work in advanced motion control, impedance control, force control, robot learning and data-driven manipulation. Franka also provides a robot model library that researchers can use when developing controllers or calculating robot dynamics.

Users can work through several levels of the software stack. Franka Desk supports graphical setup and rapid prototyping, while RIDE provides an accessible development environment for integration and introductory robotics work. More advanced users can work through the Franka Control Interface using C++, ROS 2, MoveIt 2 or MATLAB and Simulink. This range makes the same platform useful for teaching basic robotics concepts and developing sophisticated experimental control systems.

Applications and Collaborative Use

Franka Research 3 can support research in robot learning, grasping, manipulation, motion planning, human–robot interaction, teleoperation, contact-rich tasks and autonomous skill development. It can also be used for teaching, demonstrations, dataset collection and prototyping new service-robot applications. Compatible grippers and third-party tools allow researchers to adapt the arm for different experimental tasks.

Its force sensitivity and hand-guiding capabilities make it useful when a person needs to physically demonstrate a movement or interact directly with the robot. The complete installation, including the end effector, payload, programmed motion, surrounding equipment and possible human contact, must undergo an application-specific risk assessment. Some collaborative modes and safety functions are integrated into the platform, while other arrangements may require external protective devices. 

From One Arm to Dual-Arm and Mobile Research

The Franka Research 3 platform can be expanded beyond a single robot arm through the FR3 Duo and Mobile FR3 Duo prototype systems. The FR3 Duo combines two Franka Research 3 arms into a 14-axis platform for bimanual manipulation, teleoperation, imitation learning and physical-AI research. The two arms share an overlapping workspace, making the system suitable for tasks that require coordinated movement.

The Mobile FR3 Duo places the dual-arm setup on an omnidirectional mobile base with onboard cameras, LiDAR and computing. This allows researchers to study mobile manipulation and tasks beyond a fixed workbench.

Teaching Robots with Franka GELLO

Franka GELLO is an open-source teleoperation device developed for teaching and controlling the Franka Research 3. Rather than using buttons, a joystick or conventional programming interface, a researcher physically moves the GELLO device and the FR3 follows its joint movements. This provides an intuitive way to demonstrate tasks and record human-generated examples for robot-learning experiments.

The standard Franka GELLO is intended for one FR3 arm, while Franka GELLO Duo provides two input devices for coordinated teleoperation of the FR3 Duo. The dual configuration can be used to demonstrate bimanual skills, collect synchronised dual-arm data and investigate imitation learning, deformable-object handling and coordinated manipulation. Integration is provided through ROS 2, with support for robot joint control and compatible gripper actuation.