China creates world’s fastest humanoid robot – but there’s something odd about how it moves
It's giving major I, Robot vibes.
A Chinese firm has created the world’s fastest humanoid robot – but don’t worry, you can probably still outrun it. For now.
Clocking in at seven miles per hour, an impressive speed for today’s robots, the Unitree H1 Evolution V3.0 has been showing off its capabilities in a video that shows it running, jumping, climbing stairs, carrying a basket and dancing.
Although as with most robots, the faster it moves, the more it looks like it may have soiled itself – or that the very least is dashing for the bathroom.
Standing tall at 5 foot 11 inches – or 1.8 metres – it weighs less than 50 kilograms, more than 30kgs lighter than the average UK male.
In the latest video, the H1 is dressed in a black t-shirt and ‘trousers’ that look more like giant legwarmers or chaps as it performs various tasks.
A trio of them also break out in dance, with pop music blasting behind it as they bust out some boy-band dance moves.
The video shows off the balance and agility of the robot, as it can move around jumping as high as a human, picking up objects from a robotic dog – another creation from Unitree – and climbing up a small set of stairs before rotating and ‘spinning’ down.
In another video, the robot is kicked to showcase how it regains its balance when pushed off course.
Another video shows it completing obstacle courses.
According to the firm, the robot can hold a 30kg load, and says the secret to the robot’s power lies in its hip and knees as it generates powerful torque.
And if you’re wondering how it knows where it’s going, the robot can navigate the world around it due to a combination of cameras and Lidar (light detection and ranging) sensors embedded in its head.
Using Lidar, H1 is constantly sending out laser pulses into the surrounding area, building up a picture of the environment.
Unitree has not given the H1 an official price point or launch date as of yet.
The firm is known for the creation of Cassie the dog, a robot that managed to run a 100-metre sprint in 24.73 seconds.