Competition is heating up in the booming humanoid robotics sector, between US-based Boston Dynamics and China's Unitree. The Chinese firm has just taken a major step forward with the mass marketing of its robots, at relatively attractive prices for professionals.

Boston Dynamics and Unitree both have a large number of projects in the pipeline. This year, the American company presented a completely new version of its famous Atlas humanoid robot, in a fully electric, autonomous form that is much more dexterous than before. It is due to be tested in a car factory before being put into production. Currently only the Spot dog robot is marketed on a large scale.

However Chinese manufacturer Unitree is now hitting hard with in the mass production of its robots for industry, with its two humanoid robots, the H1 and the G1 in a pioneering move.

The brand's premium model is Unitree H1, a large humanoid robot that is 1.8 meters tall and capable of lifting heavy loads. It moves autonomously and naturally, whether walking or running, and can perform, in theory, relatively complex repetitive tasks.

Its multiple sensors and cameras enable it to interact with its environment, and in particular to avoid obstacles. And last but not least, its code is open-source, meaning developers can create their own dedicated applications.

However, all this comes at a price: between US$90,000 and US$150,000 (excluding tax and shipping), depending on its degree of optimization.

Much more affordable, Unitree G1 is a more compact robot (measuring 1.3 meters), but just as useful. It walks naturally and is remarkably flexible. For example, it is resistant to shocks and assaults, and can even stand up on its own. But its biggest asset is that it is capable of "learning” to reproduce many gestures over time.

For example, it can already handle a stick or a soldering iron, open a bottle or crack nuts. A weak point is its low level of autonomy, which in theory is only two hours.

However, the model is now available at the unbeatable price of US$16,000. For this price, G1 has the potential to make such advanced technological capabilities relatively accessible to a range of manufacturers.

While the Chinese manufacturer is the first to bring its humanoid robots to the mass market, it is far from the only one producing such models. Xiaomi, for example, is working on a robot capable of interacting with humans, notably by recognizing the emotions of nearby individuals, while Tesla in the USA continues to perfect its Optimus robot.

This year, start-up Figure has teamed up with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its humanoid robot, enabling it to respond to (almost) everything, as well as easily manipulating objects and expressing emotions. Combined with artificial intelligence, all these robots could one day interact automatically with humans, both in the workplace and at home.

 - AFP Relaxnews