Do Fighting Robots Serve Humanity: A Look Between Fiction and Reality?

Robot G1 Showcases Impressive Combat Skills, Raising Questions About the Practical Benefit of These Abilities and the Company’s Focus on Industrial and Research Applications Instead of Home Use.

Unitree Robotics impressed its followers with a new demonstration of its G1 humanoid robot, showcasing sophisticated combat movements that combine Kung Fu and acrobatic skills. The video, published by the company on its YouTube channel and the X platform, confirmed that all movements were performed without speeding up, with the robot using its arms to maintain balance during flips and complex movements.

The video, titled “Kung Fu Kid – Version 6.0,” shows the robot in a dimly lit room performing a series of kicks, punches, and balancing movements on one leg. The presentation began with a high kick, followed by rapid spinning movements and low strikes, before transitioning into acrobatic displays that included successive flips and aerial jumps, with precise and balanced landings each time.

This is not the first time Unitree has showcased the G1 robot in this way, with the company publishing similar clips in February and March, demonstrating combat skills and side jumps that have garnered widespread admiration. However, some viewers questioned the practical benefit of these movements, expressing a desire to see the robot perform more useful daily tasks, such as fetching drinks or doing laundry.

The company clarified that the G1 is not a multi-purpose home robot, but rather a research platform aimed at universities, educational institutions, and researchers in the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics. The company aims to develop it later for work in factories and warehouses to perform specific tasks, but its current focus is on developing its motor and cognitive abilities. The robot is offered at a price of $21,500, making it closer to industrial and research use than to home use.

Unitree Robotics, based in Hangzhou, China, keeps the door open to developing the G1 to perform household tasks in the future, but companies like Tesla and Figure are still making strides in this area. While the G1’s performance is impressive in its flexibility and precision, the most important question remains: When will these combat displays translate into real-world capabilities that serve humanity?

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