Humanoid robots enter the "golden" era, fierce competition

The current leading "giants" in this field include the US, Japan, South Korea and China. If the US is considered the pioneering country, China is a new face, emerging rapidly.

China and many interesting "mosts"

After the artificial intelligence (AI) race, China has started a movement to develop humanoid robots with many amazing advances. In recent years, humanoid robots of this billion-people country have made a strong impression with many "firsts".

First of all, we can mention the humanoid robot H1 Evolution V3.0 of the company Unitree Robotics when it set a record for moving on a flat surface at a speed of 11.9 km/h, 5 times faster than the Optimus model of Tesla (USA). Not only that, Evolution V3.0 also demonstrated its dexterity when it could go up and down stairs and dance to music. The robot coordinated its entire body when jumping up and down and could jump as high as a human.

Robot hình người vào kỷ nguyên — H1 Evolution V3.0 can jump as high as a human. Photo: Unitree Robotics

According to analysts, the vertical jump shows that H1's legs coordinate well with other parts and maintain perfect balance. Western humanoid robots such as Atlas from Boston Dynamics can also perform the jump, but still use bulky hydraulic actuators.

The H1 Evolution V3.0's legs use an M107 electric motor manufactured domestically in China. The creation of these robot-like legs is considered a step forward for the robotics industry.

Not long ago, at the WAIC 2024 World Artificial Intelligence Conference taking place from July 4 to 6, 2024 in Shanghai - China, Humanoid Robots Company launched the first large-sized multi-purpose humanoid robot made in China, named Thanh Long.

Qinglong is 185 cm tall and weighs 80 kg, while most other Chinese humanoid robots are around 150-175 cm tall. Qinglong is designed with a bionic body structure, allowing for complex movements, perception, interaction and precise manipulation. To do this, the robot is equipped with a motor with a maximum torque of 400 Nm (Newton meters). In addition, the robot's AI is trained on a computing power of 400 TOPS, or 400,000 billion calculations per second.

At WAIC 2024, Thanh Long demonstrated impressive performance when picking up a piece of soft cake and placing it in a basket, which technology site TechNode commented was "quite natural".

When it comes to natural interaction with humans, we cannot fail to mention the Walker robot from UBTECH Robotics. These robots are equipped with flexible joints and modern sensors, allowing them to perform precise and sophisticated operations, replacing humans in dangerous or high-precision jobs. In early 2024, the Walker S version was put into operation in the car assembly plant of NIO, one of the top three high-end electric vehicle manufacturers in China.

The progress of the American technology "giant"

With its advanced technology industry and world-leading technology corporations, the United States is one of the leading countries in the field of humanoid robot development.

In April 2024, Boston Dynamics (headquartered in Massachusetts) launched the new generation of Atlas robots, an upgrade of the Atlas humanoid robot that Boston Dynamics introduced in 2013. The notable improvement is that the entire hydraulic system based on liquid pressure in the previous version will be replaced by an electric motor, helping the robot to operate more smoothly and flexibly. In the introductory video , the robot's joints can rotate at angles that humans cannot follow.

Joining the humanoid robot race is also Optimus, an ambitious project of billionaire Elon Musk. At WAIC 2024, Tesla's second-generation humanoid robot Optimus once again attracted public attention. According to the South China Morning Post , Optimus is equipped with neural networks and computer vision technology developed by Tesla itself, handling various tasks. It is this advancement that makes the second-generation Optimus considered the future of humanoid robots.

Startups in the US such as Agility Robotics, Figure AI and Boston Dynamics are also racing to design robots with human-like shape and flexible movement. Agility Robotics developed a humanoid robot called Digit, 1.75 m tall, weighing 64 kg, capable of carrying 16 kg of goods for use in distribution centers. According to the demonstration video, Digit's arms and legs move quite rhythmically when bending down to pick up a box on a warehouse shelf. Then, Digit lifts the box to chest level and walks step by step to the conveyor belt and puts it down.

With the development of AI, the humanoid robot industry is expected to boom in the near future. Many experts believe that humanoid robots will become increasingly intelligent and soon become popular. American technology company Neura Robotics develops AI-controlled humanoid robots, aiming to perform more complex tasks, from housework to industrial tasks.

The world's two most advanced robots date

Robots Ameca and Azi, developed by British company Engineered Arts, are said to be the world's most advanced humanoid robots, thanks to their ability to mimic a range of human expressions.

According to a recently released video, two robots communicate with each other using GPT-4o. The conversation between the two robots is not only reciprocal but also combined with facial expressions, making the communication more lively and natural. This interaction makes many viewers excited. A netizen complimented the Daily Mail : "The two robots have interesting chemistry."

In the demonstration video, Azi tells a terrible joke about “internet cookies.” With narrowed eyes and a wrinkly nose, Ameca reacts so realistically that the viewer can feel the disgust. Azi looks sad, his eyes downcast as if he realizes the terribleness of the story he just told.

To express human emotions, the Ameca and Azi robots are equipped with 32 sophisticated actuators. Five of them control the neck movement and 27 others control the face. These devices control parts such as the lips, jaw, eyeballs, eyelids, eyebrows and even the nose, allowing the pair of robots to create surprisingly human-like expressions. Small details such as the lips, jaw, eyes, eyelids, eyebrows and nose all have subtle movements, creating vivid, human-like expressions.

According to the New York Post , robots Ameca and Azi not only have excellent communication skills, but they are also fluent in many different languages. The development of Ameca and Azi is a testament to the potential of modern robot technology, opening new doors for the application of robots in the fields of entertainment, communication and education .

Source: https://nld.com.vn/robot-hinh-nguoi-vao-ky-nguyen-vang-canh-tranh-khoc-liet-19625013121381272.htm