- Unitree Introduces Revealing New G1 Mobility Options
- He mastered big wheels and roller skates
- With a surprise ice skating reveal at the end
It is widely believed that the era of mobile robots is upon us. We saw them walk, run, marathon, and jump across a chasm of platforms. But today, robot makers like Unitree are starting to mix things up and replace feet with wheels.
Early balancing robots often moved on wheels (the original Segway was essentially a balancing robot), but humanoid robots like the Unitree G1 generally have, for better or worse, arms, legs, and feet that resemble ours.
Efforts to program and train robots to naturally use these limbs have been considerable, aided in recent years by the advent of generative AI. Now, scalable training can take place on a computer, with most failures recorded for simulation. When these companies send algorithms to the robots, they work as well, or even better, than us.
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Look on it
This means that walking and running humanoids are now basically solved, and as we’ve seen, there are robots that can run faster than us. However, some will say that wheels are more efficient. Watching Unitree G1 slide on its wheel legs (not in CGI and not in acceleration, Unitree reminds us), one might be inclined to agree. It moves quickly and doesn’t even slow down when turning around on one wheel. As is often the case, these trained robots have now mastered movements far beyond the capabilities of the average human.
Unitree didn’t provide much, if any, information on the G1’s latest mobility performance, and in the video, the robot quickly transitioned from two big wheels to roller skates. It’s in this piece of video that the G1 looks slightly less stable… just kidding, it would still surprise you.
The real start of the video occurs near the end, when Unitree has outfitted the G1 with a pair of ice skates.
Ice skating is a level above mobility on wheels. After all, you not only have to take into account how to slide forward on the ice, but also take into account the slipperiness of the surface and know how to deal with it and not fall flat on your mechanical butt.
Once again, we have to credit digital training for making G1 feel like they’re preparing for, if not figure skating, then at least some Olympic-level ice hockey.
It’s an exciting one minute and fifteen minute video to watch, but it also begs the question: why? Why does Unitree train its ~$16,000 robot? How will potential consumers use these capabilities? This assumes, as the video caption suggests, that some people want wheels and can buy them as accessories.
I sincerely believe that a pair of wheel legs could be faster, more efficient and safer at home, where they will help him better navigate around obstacles and rush to your aid if you are about to fall. Of course, the roughly 77-pound, 4-foot-tall robot probably isn’t equipped to break an average-sized person’s fall. In fact, we have plenty of evidence of the G1’s propensity to crash.
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