It’s been quite a year for humanoid robots, with all manner of increasingly advanced designs coming to our attention. The selections here focus more on physical movement than AI smarts, with the latter expected to come to the fore next year.
H1 by Unitree
So many humanoid robots still walk as if they’re desperately looking for a bathroom. But Unitree’s H1 robot not only walks like a human, it runs like one, too. The impressive contraption proved itself at the first-ever World Humanoid Robot Olympics in August, picking up four gold medals, three silver, and four bronze in various track events.
The H1 robot won its first gold in the 1,500 meters, completing it in style in 6 minutes and 34 seconds (the world record is 3 minutes and 26 seconds). Hitting a top speed of 4.78 meters a second, the humanoid robot ran with ease and grace, its arms and legs moving in perfect sync to maintain balance, speed, and momentum.
Only Head by AheadForm
At first glance, you might think that this video of a robotic head was generated by AI. It wasn’t. The work of Chinese firm AheadForm, the so-called Only Head is described as a “face robot” that’s been designed for research, interaction, and high-end displays.
Its movements are astonishingly lifelike, so much so that the footage will likely creep you out. The setup incorporates a complete facial actuation system with as many as 25 micro motors enabling lifelike expressions capable of portraying every human emotion. Only Head’s pupils incorporate cameras for visual perception, and built-in microphones and speakers enable real-time audio interaction.
ALLEX by WIRobotics
One of the greatest challenges for engineers developing humanoid robots is achieving natural hand movements, with the fine movement and sensitivity of human fingers proving extremely hard to replicate. South Korean tech firm WIRobotics is having a good go at it, however, with its ALLEX (from “All EXperience”) humanoid robot demonstrating amazingly versatile finger movements.
Once perfected, you can imagine those hands — and the rest of the robot — being deployed on a production line, or even used for prosthetics. WI robotics says it’s also working with an AI startup to develop ALLEX’s AI smarts in a bid to make what could become a truly remarkable robot.
G1 by Unitree
Here’s another one from Unitree. This one is a bit smaller than the adult-sized H1 robot that did so well at the robot Olympics. The G1 has garnered attention for its amazing balance and ability to recover after being pushed over. The team behind it call it the “anti-gravity mode.”
In any robot uprising, you can imagine the G1 leading the way, with human fighters unable to quell the onslaught from waves of G1 robots who just won’t go down … though let’s hope it never comes to that.
The flop … AIDOL by Artificial Intelligence Dynamic Organism Lab
For talented roboticists, this video will be a hard watch. It shows a new humanoid robot from Russia called AIDOL. Its creators unveiled AIDOL at a special event in November, but seconds after tottering onto the stage, the robot lost its balance and took a spectacular tumble.
In a desperate bid to preserve any last of strands of dignity, several assistants dashed out and tried to put a sheet over AIDOL, but that went wrong, too, as it became tangled and failed to cover up the robot. It meant we got to witness AIDOL being hauled off the stage — back to the workshop, we assume. Or a dumpster.