Chinese humanoid robots showed off a brand new skill – Kung Fu.
Dozens of robots from the company Unitree took to the stage during the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, the most watched television show in China.
Dressed in red vests, the robots perform kicks, flips and even moves with nunchaku, sticks and swords.
Ironically, their daring performance took place just a few meters away from the human children who were also part of the show.
The impressive footage from the show, published by Unitree, was widely appreciated on social media.
One YouTube user wrote: "Five years ago, this would have been just science fiction."
Another added: "If I hadn't seen it live from the Unitree Robotics channel, I would have said it was AI. Unbelievable!"
And a third said: "This is so cool. Maybe I was too harsh on these robots before."
Four humanoid robotics companies – Unitree Robotics, Galbot, Noetix and MagicLab – demonstrated their products at the gala held in Beijing on Monday.
During Unitree's segment, dozens of G1 robots took to the stage wearing what the company calls "heavy Monkey King armor."
The fight sequences also included an ambitious technical move that imitated the swinging actions and backward falls of the Chinese martial arts style "drunken boxing."
This sequence allowed the robots to show off their innovations in multi-robot coordination and fall recovery – where a robot can get up after a fall.
“Dozens of G1 robots performed the world’s first fully autonomous (fast-moving) humanoid robot group Kung Fu performance, challenging the limits of movement and setting several world records!” explained Unitree in the video’s YouTube description.
G1 robots weigh 35 kilograms, reach 1.32 meters in height and have 23 degrees of freedom in their joints, which gives them more mobility than the average human.
Beyond their flat faces, the robots hide an advanced perception system that includes a 3D LiDAR sensor and depth camera, making them one of the most advanced commercially available humanoid robots in the world.
At last year's gala, 16 Unitree robots performed a simpler routine, waving scarves and dancing.
“It’s only been a year – and the difference in performance is impressive,” said Georg Stieler, director for Asia and head of robotics and automation at Stieler Consulting.
He added that the impressive motion control demonstrated Unitree's focus on developing the "brains" of robots - the AI-powered software that enables them to perform fine motor tasks useful in real factories.
This year's improvements were also noticed by many viewers on YouTube:
“As a robotics professional, I was once again amazed by the progress compared to last year,” commented one viewer.
Another added: “Unbelievable, last year robots were just spinning plates, and now they do Kung Fu live on TV.”
Another: “Wow, big improvement from last year. Bravo Unitree!”
Unitree's humanoid robots have previously made headlines for strange behavior, including a boxing tournament of humanoid robots with protective gloves and helmets, where the robots faced each other in the ring.
While the robots could kick and punch, they often had difficulty hitting targets and staying on their feet. /GazetaExpress/
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