With exploding pelvises, enough comic pratfalls for a Buster Keaton show reel and the odd moment of ruthless violence, the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing gripped the world this week with an unsettling mixture of hilarity, trepidation and relief. The five-day showcase staked out China’s claim to undisputed leadership in humanoid robotics as android martial artists landed knockout roundhouse kicks and robot teams marched into the arena heralded by flag-waving captains astride giant robotic dogs. The games’ blue-riband event, the 100m, did not disappoint when the robot-sprinters ran quicker…
Tag: Robots
Robots smash human track records, including Bolt’s 100m sprint — video
Humanoid robots have smashed human track records at the five-day World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing. Among the records broken was Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second 100m, with a robot developed by the Beijing Innovation Centre of Humanoid Robotics finishing the sprint in 9.39 seconds. A robot developed by smartphone maker Honor completed the 100m track in 9.32 seconds in a test run. Now in its second year, more than 2,000 humanoid robots are participating in the games that are intended to showcase China’s rapid progress in advanced robotics, as the technology…
Chinese robot runs 100m sprint quicker than Usain Bolt’s world record
Chinese smartphone maker Honor’s self-developed humanoid robot Lightning ran the 100m in 9.32 seconds, beating the human world record, China’s state broadcaster reported. The humanoid reached a peak speed of 14.5 meters per second during a preparatory test event for the second World Humanoid Robot Games, which begin on Saturday. This performance surpassed the 9.58sec men’s 100m world record set by Usain Bolt 17 years ago at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin. This story will update The Guardian
Shares in humanoid robot firm Unitree surge 600% on Chinese stock market debut
Unitree, the world’s biggest humanoid robot maker, has made a spectacular entry on to China’s stock market, with its shares surging by more than 600%. The Chinese company’s robots have gained global fame via viral videos of them performing martial arts, running at Olympic speeds and serving as backup dancers for pop stars. Two Unitree robots in a fighting demonstration at the World Robot Conference in Beijing on Wednesday. Photograph: Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images Shares in the business, officially known as Yushu Technology Co, rose to as high as 1,100 yuan…
Why the US government is trying to ban this Chinese dancing robot – video explainer
The Federal Communications Commission on 28 July announced a ban on humanoid robots from China including the popular Unitree G1 model. The Guardian’s technology journalist Nick Robins-Early explains the recent popularity of these trending robots and why the US government says they are a risk to the country’s national security The Guardian
FCC bans humanoid robots from China, citing ‘unacceptable risks’
The Federal Communications Commission announced a ban on humanoid robots from China on Tuesday, saying that the technology poses “unacceptable risks” to the country’s national security. The move comes as the Trump administration has increasingly sought to keep Chinese technology out of the US. The FCC defines the banned robots as “advanced robotic devices”, which include humanoids and animal-like quadrupeds. “Advanced robotic devices collect data that could be leveraged by malign actors to surveil Americans, enhance the capabilities of foreign intelligence services, or to remotely commandeer the robots,” FCC officials…
China wants to solve the hardest problem in robotics – making hands
Human hands – nimble, nerve-filled appendages that are the most flexible part of the human skeleton – are exceptionally complex. Many tasks that most people can do largely without thinking, from tying a pair of shoelaces to buttoning up a shirt, in fact require a complex set of neurological instructions and precise choreography. In thousands of years of human history, no machine has been able to truly replicate human’s greatest tool. But now, as artificial intelligence (AI) races forwards, some companies think they are close to surpassing this final but…
Are robots nearing their ChatGPT moment? – podcast
Last month at Beijing’s half marathon, a robot named Lightning beat the human world record by nearly seven minutes. It’s the latest in a string of AI-powered milestones that have got people wondering whether robots are about to enter our everyday lives, just as chatbots have. And the country leading the charge is China, where the government has pledged to invest more than £100bn in robotics over the next 20 years. To find out how robots are already entering the workforce, and what needs to happen to get them cleaning…
Inside China’s robotics revolution – podcast
How close are we to the sci-fi vision of autonomous humanoid robots? I visited 11 companies in five Chinese cities to find out By Chang Che. Read by Vincent Lai Continue reading… The Guardian
‘Look, no hands’: China chases the driverless dream at Beijing car show
At the world’s biggest car fair, which opened in Beijing on Friday, there were hundreds of manufacturers, more than 1,000 vehicles, hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts – and hardly anyone behind a wheel. China’s car companies have cornered the domestic electric vehicle market, and are increasingly visible on the global stage. Now they are turning their attention to what they are betting is the future of mobility: autonomous driving. At the Beijing Auto Fair, a huge industry event that covers 380,000 square metres on the outskirts of the capital, the…