Chinese robots with a G1 designation are performing some very interesting tasks. The Galbot G1 isn’t made by Unitree, which loves to promote its ongoing work, but this one is still looking to grab a few headlines. How? By operating a store on its own.
Not a massive store, of course. The robot will spend time in a pop-up store (the initial report reckons it’s a ‘capsule’), dispensing items to customers. The other G1 has already performed this sort of task before, so it’s not wholly new. But it’s still unusual that the city has decided to give it, more or less, autonomy.
Galbot goes to the shop
The G1 robot even has a name — Xiao Gai — for this little outing. It’s supposedly capable of basic conversation in multiple languages, as well as physical tasks. The robot will handle customer checkouts, hand over items, and restock the store. It has been built for exactly this purpose (among others). The Galbot G1-fronted store is supposedly just the start for the project.
The project is intended to expand to more than 100 similarly-staffed stores. It will rely on novelty at first to draw customers in. That is, admittedly, all the setup needs right now. More than a few potential customers will turn up just to say they were sold a small item by a robot working alone in a teeny tiny pod.
Galbot’s G1 is a semi-humanoid with a functional torso and a wheeled base. That helps to explain why it’ll be confined behind a counter, but it can handle handheld loads of up to ten kilograms (5kg per arm). It likely won’t be working at full physical capacity here. It includes autonomous charging functions (another reason to keep it confined, since it can just keep working… except when it’s on a break), and there’s also an AI system that helps it navigate the world and conversations with people. It’s a heavy bugger, too, weighing in at 92.5 kilograms.
