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Yes—but the viral headline needs an important qualification. MAB Robotics’ Honey Badger 4.0 was shown walking along the bottom of a swimming pool while fully submerged in October 2024. It is an underwater-walking quadruped designed for difficult, mixed-terrain inspections—not a free-swimming consumer robot dog or an autonomous deep-sea vehicle.
The demonstration remains notable in 2026 because a legged robot that can move from dry ground into flooded infrastructure could inspect places where wheeled crawlers, aerial drones and conventional underwater vehicles are poor fits.
The video is real, but it is not new
The footage that prompted headlines showing a “Honey Badger” robot dog underwater was released in October 2024. TechCrunch reported on the demonstration on October 15, while New Atlas published further details about the machine—identified as Honey Badger 4.0—on October 21.
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MAB Robotics, a robotics company based in Poznań, Poland, showed the four-legged robot walking across the floor of a swimming pool. The robot stayed upright and used its legs to make contact with the bottom. It did not swim through open water using propellers, fins or buoyancy control.
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That distinction is the key to understanding what was demonstrated. Honey Badger 4.0 can operate while completely submerged and walk underwater, but the video does not establish that it can freely swim, work indefinitely in strong currents or carry out a fully autonomous underwater mission.
New Atlas’ report on the Honey Badger demonstration provides the main published specifications and engineering context.
What is Honey Badger 4.0 designed to do?
Honey Badger is a compact quadruped intended for inspection and research in difficult environments. Its value is not maximum speed underwater. It is the ability to negotiate different types of terrain with the same platform.
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Potential environments include:
- Flooded industrial facilities
- Water and sewage infrastructure
- Underground and heating-distribution tunnels
- Confined passages and rough terrain
- Flooded areas affected by disasters
- Research environments for legged and underwater locomotion
A conventional wheeled robot may work well on a smooth floor but struggle with rubble, steps, gaps or a transition from land into water. A dedicated underwater vehicle may maneuver efficiently in open water but cannot simply walk out of the water and continue through a tunnel.
A quadruped sits between those categories. Its legs can provide ground contact, while the machine’s body and electronics are designed to tolerate immersion. MAB has also described testing and deployments involving underground infrastructure, water or sewage canals and other inspection settings. Those examples should not be confused with proof that every configuration is ready for every industrial environment.
Reported Honey Badger 4.0 specifications
| Specification | Reported figure | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Approximately 60 cm (23.6 in) | Reported by New Atlas |
| Height | Up to approximately 50 cm (19.6 in) | Reported by New Atlas |
| Weight | Approximately 12 kg (26.4 lb) | Configuration and payload can affect handling |
| Top speed | Up to 1 m/s (2.24 mph) | Maximum speed is not an underwater endurance figure |
| Battery | 6-Ah lithium-ion battery | Runtime varies with terrain, gait and payload |
| Operating time | Up to approximately two hours cable-free | “Up to” does not mean two hours in every mission |
| Payload | Up to approximately 2 kg | Depends on configuration and operating conditions |
| Sensors | RGB and thermal cameras, LiDAR and a gas sensor | Underwater performance depends heavily on water clarity and conditions |
| Communications | 5G or fiber-optic cable | The cable is primarily a communications tether, not necessarily a power tether |
| Software | ROS 2 platform | Onboard software does not by itself prove full autonomy |
Some coverage has also cited an underwater depth figure of about 330 feet, or approximately 100 meters. That number should be treated cautiously. The available reports do not provide a complete, independently verified test protocol showing the conditions, duration, configuration, maintenance requirements or safety margin behind the figure. It should not be presented as a universal certified depth rating.
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Why use legs underwater?
Legs are a counterintuitive choice for underwater work because they are mechanically complex and usually less energy-efficient than propulsion systems designed specifically for swimming. Their advantage is terrain access.
Feet can help a robot:
- Maintain contact with the bottom instead of drifting in moving water
- Cross uneven ground, debris, rocks and broken concrete
- Handle slopes or changes in floor height
- Move through partially flooded sections
- Transition from underwater terrain to dry ground
- Carry inspection sensors close to infrastructure
This approach is especially relevant to tunnels, canals, flooded basements and industrial sites where the robot must deal with both water and land. It is less compelling for long-distance open-water travel, where a remotely operated vehicle or autonomous underwater vehicle can generally use buoyancy and thrusters more efficiently.
Legs also introduce trade-offs. Each leg contains actuators, gears, bearings, seals and moving cable paths. The robot must coordinate all of those components while dealing with reduced traction, uncertain footing and the possibility that debris will obstruct a joint.
The hardest engineering problem is keeping the actuators sealed
MAB identified actuator sealing as one of the major challenges in making the robot work underwater. The actuators power the joints, so a failure in a seal can allow water into motors, gearboxes, bearings or electrical connections.
An underwater legged robot must manage several problems at once:
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- Water ingress: Seals and connectors must remain reliable as joints move repeatedly.
- Pressure: Water pressure increases with depth and can stress housings and seals.
- Corrosion and contamination: Sewage, saltwater, silt and industrial fluids are more demanding than a clean pool.
- Heat: Sealed actuators still generate heat, but the enclosure limits how components can dissipate it.
- Wear: Lubrication, seal degradation and repeated immersion cycles affect long-term reliability.
- Traction: Algae, mud, smooth metal and loose sediment can make foot placement unpredictable.
- Recovery: A disabled robot in a flooded tunnel may require a separate retrieval system.
MAB has said it built and tested multiple actuator prototypes, using failures and limits to improve later versions. That is normal for a platform at this stage, but it also means a successful pool demonstration should not be interpreted as a guarantee of maintenance-free operation in sewage, seawater or chemically aggressive industrial environments.
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How does it communicate underwater?
Ordinary Wi-Fi does not work well through submerged water, so underwater operation creates a communications problem as well as a sealing problem.
Honey Badger can use a fiber-optic cable for communications. According to New Atlas, the robot’s battery powers movement and onboard computing while the cable provides the communications link. This is different from a traditional power tether that supplies the vehicle with electricity from the surface.
A fiber tether can offer reliable control and high-bandwidth data, but it is not free. The cable can snag on pipes, corners, debris or vegetation, and its length limits where the robot can travel. In confined infrastructure, tether management may be as important as the robot’s walking ability.
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Is Honey Badger autonomous?
The public evidence does not justify calling the underwater demonstration fully autonomous.
The robot can perform onboard movement computations, stabilization and other control functions. However, onboard computing is not the same as independently planning and completing an inspection mission. MAB told New Atlas that autonomous operation for industrial-infrastructure inspection was still a work in progress at the time of the 2024 report.
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The practical distinction is important. A robot may walk using onboard control while still being remotely supervised by an operator who chooses the route, monitors sensors, avoids obstacles and decides when to stop or retrieve the machine.
What sensors can it carry?
Reported equipment includes RGB cameras, thermal cameras, LiDAR, a gas sensor and lighting. The platform can also be configured with modular research or inspection equipment. MAB’s inspection material describes capabilities including cameras, LiDAR and fiber-optic operation.
Those sensors are useful, but their performance underwater is not automatically the same as on land:
- Suspended particles and turbidity can reduce camera visibility.
- Low light and reflections can make images difficult to interpret.
- Bubbles or sediment disturbed by the robot can temporarily obscure the scene.
- LiDAR performance can vary with water clarity and the specific sensor.
- Thermal cameras do not simply provide normal long-range thermal vision through all water conditions.
The available reports do not provide detailed underwater range, accuracy or sensor-performance measurements. The presence of a sensor should therefore not be treated as proof that it can deliver useful data in every submerged environment.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the pool video demonstrates—and what it does not
It demonstrates that:
- Honey Badger 4.0 can walk while fully submerged.
- Its legs can maintain a quadrupedal gait on the pool floor.
- Its electronics and actuators survived at least the conditions shown.
- A legged robot can potentially combine land mobility with underwater operation.
It does not establish that the robot can:
- Swim freely through open water like a conventional underwater drone.
- Maintain position in strong currents.
- Operate indefinitely or for its full claimed runtime underwater.
- Navigate reliably through mud, debris, sewage or highly turbid water.
- Climb every underwater surface or recover from every obstacle.
- Complete an inspection mission without an operator.
- Perform deep-sea work under a universally certified 100-meter rating.
- Provide reliable thermal or LiDAR data in all submerged conditions.
- Be purchased as a standard consumer robot dog.
When is a legged underwater robot the right tool?
A Honey Badger-style platform makes the most sense when a mission combines several of these requirements:
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- Irregular ground: Rocks, rubble, grates, slopes or debris make wheels difficult.
- Confined access: The robot must enter tunnels, narrow passages or underground infrastructure.
- Inspection payloads: Cameras, gas detection and mapping matter more than high travel speed.
- Reduced human exposure: Flooding, contamination, collapse risk or hazardous gases make direct inspection dangerous.
- Exit from the water: The robot must continue onto land after the submerged section.
A dedicated ROV may be the better choice for long-distance underwater travel, strong currents, deep-water work or continuous inspection from a vessel. A tracked or wheeled crawler may be more efficient in a smooth pipe or predictable tunnel. An autonomous underwater vehicle may be better suited to extended open-water missions. These are mission trade-offs, not evidence that one category is universally superior.
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Is Honey Badger 4.0 available to buy?
There is no evidence in the supplied reporting of a normal consumer sales channel, public retail price or standardized online package for Honey Badger 4.0. MAB’s public material directs interested organizations toward contacting the company, which is consistent with a quote-based industrial or research system.
That makes it a poor fit for someone looking for a robot dog for a home, pool or casual video project. For industrial operators, the appropriate route would be to discuss the required environment, depth, communications method, payload, recovery plan and maintenance expectations directly with MAB Robotics through its inspection and research platform page.
Commercialization should also be separated from availability. MAB has been working toward commercial applications, but the available evidence does not show that Honey Badger 4.0 is a mass-market product.
What comes next?
As of August 2026, the most current public framing is that Honey Badger 4.0 is the model associated with the 2024 underwater demonstration. A later MAB update said the company was using field experience to shape a forthcoming Honey Badger 5.0.
That is a development signal, not evidence that Honey Badger 5.0 has launched or is available for purchase. The appropriate description is an upcoming successor, not a released 2026 product.
Bottom line
MAB Robotics’ Honey Badger 4.0 really did walk underwater, but it walked along the bottom of a pool rather than swimming like a free-moving underwater drone. The achievement is significant because the robot is built around a harder and potentially more useful problem: moving through mixed environments where flooded infrastructure, rough terrain and dry passages meet.
Its strongest future use is likely specialized inspection and research. The video supports underwater locomotion, not universal depth capability, full autonomy, deep-sea operation or consumer availability.
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