At the headquarters of China’s pioneering robot maker Unitree, visitors are invited to push and kick the G1 — a 1.3-metre-tall, silver humanoid — to test its balance.
The Hangzhou-based group is demonstrating the strength of its effort to transform the nascent industry to build humanlike machines. The robots are powered by open-source software that allows buyers to code them to run, dance or execute roundhouse kung-fu kicks.
Unitree leads a pack of Chinese start-ups in the sector — including AgiBot, Engine AI, Fourier and UBTech — garnering attention in recent months with made-for-social-media video demonstrations. During China’s big spring festival gala, 16 of Unitree’s H1 bots performed a synchronised folk dance during a live show broadcast to millions of viewers.