In Brief:
- Applications are now open at app.bitrobot.ai for Access IDs, the credential BitRobot uses to gate its Open Robotics Lab.
- Contributing robotics work, joining special subnet campaigns and referring new users earns holders Bolts and Badges.
- No token exists yet on the Solana-based network, although its whitepaper sketches out subnet emissions and NFT-based robot identifiers known as ENTs.
Access IDs — the credential that determines who can take part in BitRobot’s Open Robotics Lab — are now open for application.
“The Open Robotics Lab is live. Apply now for your Access ID,” the network said in its announcement. The application process runs through app.bitrobot.ai.
Robotics szn on Solana
@SolanaView on X ↗
The post was boosted by Solana’s official account, which added a two-word remark: “Robotics szn on Solana.”
What the credential does
Three routes to building standing were listed by BitRobot: doing robotics work, taking part in special subnet campaigns and bringing in new users through referrals. All three pay out Bolts and unlock Badges, which the network presents as a way of leveling up a contributor’s credentials.
Within subnets, Bolts serve as BitRobot’s unit of contribution — essentially the accounting layer for completed work. Badges layer on top of that as collectible markers of the same activity.
What the Access ID does is formalize a system BitRobot has run piecemeal for the past year. Privileged lab access, cash bounties, referral earnings and priority access to new subnets and robotic experiments were already being distributed through its Ambassador Program. Since January 2026, a separate waitlist has been running for TeleArms, the teleoperation platform for robotic arms built around LeKiwi and XLeRobot hardware from Sig Robotics.
The subnets behind it
Contributors are grouped into subnets, with each one producing a different output for embodied AI research — datasets, robot fleets, compute. Contributions pass through what the network terms Verifiable Robotic Work, a mechanism for confirming that a task delivered measurable value before rewards are settled onchain.
The first subnet to operate was ET Fugi, designated SN/01, which went live in August 2025. Contributors drive sidewalk robots along real streets, producing navigation data drawn from curbs, obstacles and pedestrian traffic. More than 10,000 hours of driving have been logged by thousands of participants, yielding what BitRobot says is the largest open-source sidewalk navigation dataset.
Launched Oct. 23 alongside Virtuals Protocol, SeeSaw — SN/05 — asks users to film ordinary household chores on an iPhone, such as tying shoelaces or folding clothes, then upload the footage as robot training data. One million completed tasks were passed within its opening month, and BitRobot’s site now lists a figure above 4.5 million.
Private beta is still where TeleArms sits. According to the network, it has recorded more than 50,000 teleoperation missions and over 1,400 hours of teleoperation in simulation.
A $5 million Grand Challenges fund, announced in September 2025, is also operated by the BitRobot Foundation, with as much as $1 million available per category. Earth Rover navigation, robotic origami and IKEA furniture assembly make up the three categories, co-organized by researchers from Google DeepMind, Spirit AI and Princeton.
Still no token
A token has yet to launch. The whitepaper lays out a model resting on subnet emissions and ENTs, the NFT-based identifiers for robots, but supply, allocation and vesting have not been finalized. Nothing has been confirmed regarding an airdrop, and no conversion path from Bolts or Badges to anything else has been announced.
For the time being, that makes the Access ID a reputation instrument — and nothing beyond that.
Background
Begun as a weekend project by brothers Michael and Sam Cho to gamify robotics data collection, FrodoBots Lab closed a $6 million seed round on Feb. 14, 2025, taking total funding to $8 million. The round was led by Protocol VC, with participation from Big Brain Holdings, Fabric Ventures, Zee Prime Capital, Tioga Capital, Sfermion, Solana Ventures and Virtuals Protocol, plus angels including Solana Labs co-founders Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal.
The network was co-developed with Protocol Labs. FrodoBots, for its part, became a subnet.
“We envision each subnet to be a standalone robotic competition. For example, Subnet 1 could be a DePIN-anchored robotic gaming contest meant for collecting real-world urban navigation data with sidewalk robots, while Subnet 2 could be an ongoing contest among researchers to build ever-improving autonomous navigation models,” said Michael Cho, co-founder of FrodoBots Lab, at the time the round was announced.
Last year, Cho carried that case directly to the robotics establishment. He opened his keynote at the 2025 Conference on Robot Learning in Seoul by telling the room: “Crypto will drastically accelerate embodied AI research.”