Unitree has a stunning range of humanoid robots, but its GD01 is a humanoid of another kind. The vehicle (and it is a vehicle) is a humanoid that seats a single human, making it a (technically) piloted mech suit.
The Chinese company revealed its newest creation in a video posted to YouTube, showing the almost three-metre-tall craft seating Unitree’s CEO. It then strides around like it’s searching for a Japanese teenager to pilot the thing.
Git GD01
Such an approach might make sense, since the GD01 looks like it’s fairly cramped inside. The robotic vehicle is little more than a humanoid robot with a rollcage instead of a torso. Despite how cool it looks, Unitree’s video shows that its design is still in the early phases. You’re not supposed to notice, since it’s all marketing, but we’ve been paying attention.
For example, there’s no sign of how pilots actually drive the thing. Keep an eye on the man squeezing into the cockpit. Then see who is driving in the following segment. There appears to be little movement and no close-up of the control system. To us, it looks like a dummy wearing a crash helmet in the harness. Movement, at this stage, looks to be handled externally. This goes double for its all-fours gait, which was filmed without a human shape inside the ‘cabin’. It’s impressively gorilla-like in its movement, though.
The same goes for the 500-kilogram GD01’s strength. Unitree shows it knocking down a wall… of uncemented cinderblocks. You could do the same thing with a decently tossed kettlebell if you hit the wall in the correct spot. But it looks good on video, which is the main thing at this point.
Still, you can have one of Unitree’s GD01 units now, provided you have the cash. Specifically, a little under R11 million (¥3.9 million). You’d best know what you plan to do with the mech before plopping down your money, of course. “It looks cool” isn’t a metric your financial manager is likely to accept.
