Question: Most robots that exist in the world today are factory robots. Not particularly humanoid, except the arm+hand concept. When you design a robot to replace the human task of pushing a vacuum cleaner around the house, you don't design a robot that resembles a human in any way.

Roboticists today are designing all sorts of robots: with wheels, with tracks, with six legs, etc. So my question is: should we expect robots of a near-future setting to be humanoid? Would they be bipedal?

Of course, one thing sophisticated robots (not hoover robots and factory robots) need is adaptability. The human body-form can do a lot of different things. But so can the hexapedal form, for example.

Mother Nature already dealt with this question of what body-plan to use for Her most sophisticated beings, and she settled on humanoid for reasons I don't fully understand, discussed a bit in [this question](https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/25209/would-intelligent-life-evolve-any-other-body-plan-than-humanoid).

Would people in the near-future bother manufacturing humanoid/bipedal robots, or could we get any job done with other body-plans?

Answer: 
Form follows function
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When identifying what you want your robot to do, you make a list of priorities. If "interacting with people" isn't on the list, then you don't put any effort into their appearance. Making something "humanoid" is an additional qualification that is really too expensive for most development teams.

Just bipedal walking is an expensive proposition. Trying to fit all of the necessary sensors into a human-shaped bulb of a head is an unnecessary challenge. Trying to make dexterous human hands is something our world is still working on.

The super-expensive Honda ASIMO was built basically as a PR stunt. After doing some dancing around on stage, it spent the rest of its days as a receptionist. It is now a museum piece.

Humanoid forms are actually a detraction to the natural functions of robots. The problem with humanoid robots is that humans can't help anthropomorphising them. We get nervous about being naked in front of them. You make a toaster with a human face, and pretty soon people are waving signs that say "free the toasters!"

So, overall, if you don't *need* to make something humanoid, then you won't.

OTOH, if you *do* need to make something humanoid, you will. We're entering the age where humans will need to work side-by-side with robots. Being able to predict a robot's behavior can be the difference between successfully building an automobile and getting your hand broken, so there is good reason to model robots on something we're familiar with.

I'm reminded of C3PO, who is a protocol droid. R2D2 doesn't need to interact with people, so it's ok for him to look like a fire plug. C3PO's function was to provide translation services and explain things to guests. Any hospitality robot will inevitably trend towards humanoid because it makes their job easier.
I haven't seen anyone state what I believe to be the primary reason you don't see many humanoid robots: It is vastly more difficult and costly to build a humanoid robot.

Most motion devices we have to work with are rotary motors, solenoids, rotary and linear servos, etc. These devices are not conducive to moving the human shape. So, if you want to do anything robotically, it is almost guaranteed to be easier and cheaper to do that thing in a non-human form.

Absent some exotic devices being researched, a humanoid robot will need to be powered by hydraulics or pneumatics. Each muscle needs to be powered by it's own cylinder and tubing. You can do some things with cable to reduce the number of components, but it's just a beast of a job.

Even the most advanced publicly known semi-humanoid robot in the world (Boston Dynamics 'Atlas'), which is the result of millions of dollars of work and research, can only lift about 15 pounds. And for getting any real work done, it is outclassed by their dog robot, which is orders of magnitude less productive than the kind of square cart robots in an Amazon warehouse.

I'm not saying that Boston Dynamics (or anyone else's) human and animal shaped robots don't have capabilities that other (boxy) robots don't have. I'm just saying they are very expensive and only make sense for relatively rare use cases.

If there were magic to make them available, quick and strong, I have no doubt that humanoid robots would be very popular. As there is no such magic, we tend to get what can be made effective for a given task at a price that businesses can afford.