Apollo

Humanoid Robot

Winner of Fast Company’s 2025 Innovation by Design Award and CNBC’s Disruptor 50.

I led the development of a foundational motion language system for Apollo— a NASA-backed, general-purpose humanoid robot. This groundbreaking UI/UX project defined how Apollo communicates through movement, gesture, and expression, establishing a visual and behavioral design framework for human-robot interaction.

Designed to work alongside people in industries from retail and hospitality to logistics and aerospace, Apollo represents a transformative leap in practical, human-centered robotics.

Role: Motion Director
Agency: argodesign
Client: Apptronik

A set of guiding motion principals to inform all communication

Mid-design exploration

Some use cases

Drawing on user research, historical trends, and cultural references, I developed a minimal yet expressive motion language that defined Apollo’s core communication and personality cues. Through synchronized LED eyes, an E-ink mouth, and a touchscreen chest display, the animation system enables clear, human-readable interaction across a wide range of environments and distances.

↳ Eyes ⇢  60 feet
↳ Mouth ⇢  30 feet
↳ Chest ⇢  3 feet

The system and UI, like the chassis and shrouding ID, had to project a delicate balance of sophistication and utility where subtle shifts in expression speed or mouth placement could significantly alter perception.

Because Apollo was still in active development during discovery and design, I collaborated closely with engineers to identify a concise set of probable interactions. From there, I built a suite of animations grounded in unified motion principles— creating a flexible framework that could scale across future behaviors and use cases.

Apollo, Communication (My portion speaking to design)

Apollo, Productizing

Apollo, Relationships

Apollo, Everyday

This Freethink documentary offers a clear, accessible look at Apollo’s technology and design—contextualizing what sets Apptronik apart in the emerging robotics market.

The segment featuring argodesign’s contributions begins around the 8-minute mark, with my discussion on motion design appearing at approximately 13 minutes.