A highly anticipated Russian humanoid robot's debut fell flat when the machine face-planted during a live presentation in Moscow this week.

On Tuesday, Nov. 11, the robot, named AIDOL, made its long-awaited introduction. In a video of the event circulating online, AIDOL is seen stumbling as it walks on stage to the theme song from the "Rocky" film franchise.

When the robot attempts to wave to the audience with its right arm, it appears to lose its balance before tumbling over. Two human assistants, who accompanied the robot to the stage, rushed to help it up. The men then worked to drag it offstage as other staff members pulled a curtain over the machine while reporters in attendance looked on.

What is AIDOL?

AIDOL is powered by artificial intelligence, according to Reuters. Considered to be “Russia’s first anthropomorphic robot with artificial intelligence,” the robot was created by a company with the same name.

Ahead of the unveiling, Vladimir Vitukhin, the company’s director, told a local news agency that the robot is capable of three key tasks: locomotion, manipulation and communication.

AIDOL can not only execute commands, but it also interacts with humans "naturally and efficiently," he said.

He called the fumble on Nov. 11 a real-time learning experience and a "successful mistake."

Vitukhin told The Moscow Times that the robot had previously been tested in other conditions, including walking on rocks, carpet, laminate, expanded clay and slippery floors. The fall, he said, could’ve stemmed from a “power failure” or other factors.

He added that his team would “debug the issue” and noted one of the robot’s functions is to “evoke sympathy.”

AIDOL’s body houses a 48-volt battery pack with a capacity of 2,100 kilovar-hours, ensuring six hours of uninterrupted operation, according to the company. AIDOL weighs 209 pounds and is 6 feet, 1 inch tall. The company’s website states it can carry up to 22 pounds and move at 3.7 mph.

The presented prototype contains 77% Russian-made components. Its silicon skin allows it to express a full range of emotions. AIDOL is capable of expressing more than 12 basic emotions and hundreds of microexpressions, Vitukhin told the news agency.

AIDOL's debut comes weeks after NEO, a humanoid robot created by the California-based AI and robotics company 1X, a became available for preorder. A Wall Street Journal video of NEO showed it similarly struggling to accomplish basic tasks.

Humanoid robot market may surpass $5 trillion by 2050, investment bank says

Morgan Stanley, a New York City-based multinational investment bank and financial services company, anticipates the humanoid robot market could surpass $5 trillion by 2050.

“Adoption should be relatively slow until the mid-2030s, accelerating in the late 2030s and 2040s,” Adam Jonas, Morgan Stanley’s head of global autos and shared mobility research, said.

While the market is projected to reach trillions of dollars, Jonas cautions that household usage is expected to be "much more conservative, with only 80 million humanoids in homes by 2050."

“We are not going to see a robot in every home overnight," he said.

An uptick in robot usage should occur when a "general-purpose humanoid" capable of doing a litany of useful tasks at home is created, but this will require "technological progress in both hardware and AI models, which should take about another decade," according to the investment bank. Additionally, prices would need to decline substantially, and the use of humanoids being regulated and accepted in society will be a huge sticking point for average consumers, it added.

“Once we get to that stage, humanoid volume and penetration should pick up quickly,” Jonas said.

Michelle Del Rey is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at mdelrey@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Watch Russian robot walk out to 'Rocky' theme, face-plant on stage

Reporting by Michelle Del Rey , USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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