Buying guide
Ottava vs ROSA in 2026
Comparing 2 humanoid robots across availability, pricing, capabilities, and verified deployments. Current as of 2026.
| Attribute | No image on file | No image on file |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Johnson & Johnson | Zimmer Biomet |
| Form factor | surgical | surgical |
| Maturity | pilot | commercial |
| Availability | internal-onlyenterprise | internal-onlyenterprise |
| Price | Not announced | Not announced |
| Capability claims | — | — |
| Brain | — | — |
| Verified deployments | 1United States | 2France, United States |
| Privacy practices | — | — |
| Sources on file | 5 | 11 |
Editorial summaries
Ottava
J&J MedTech's Ottava is a soft-tissue general-surgery robotic platform with four arms integrated into the operating table, announced in 2020. It is pre-market: J&J submitted a De Novo request to the FDA in January 2026, and Ottava is not authorized to be marketed. DEPLOY classifies it research tier: J&J's corporate scale does not translate into verified surgical-robotics deployment, because the gating event (FDA clearance) has not occurred. By the framework, Ottava sits at the same research tier as far smaller pre-market entrants. There is no price; it is not sold.
ROSA
Zimmer Biomet's ROSA (Robotic Surgical Assistant) is a single articulated robotic arm coupled to optical navigation and 2D/3D planning software, and the mid-size, cross-domain archetype of the orthopedic sub-cohort: it spans orthopedics and neurosurgery. The arm positions and guides instruments but moves only on surgeon command; it does not cut or place autonomously (AI-augmented, surgeon-controlled). Current Zimmer Biomet variants are ROSA Knee (total knee arthroplasty, imageless X-Atlas workflow, cleared January 25, 2019; 'ROSA Knee with OptimiZe' cleared November 14, 2025), ROSA Hip (direct-anterior total hip arthroplasty specifically, cleared August 18, 2021), ROSA ONE Brain (cranial neurosurgery: biopsy, SEEG, DBS, and endoscopy, cleared February 11, 2019), and ROSA Shoulder (cleared February 2024). Made by Zimmer Biomet (NYSE: ZBH). Two cap-flags: ROSA Spine is not a current Zimmer Biomet variant (it left in the 2022 ZimVie spinoff), and Zimmer Biomet's autonomy ambitions run through its separate Monogram acquisition, not ROSA. As enterprise B2B surgical equipment, there is no consumer price.
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