Last month, we saw a teaser video of Unitree’s G1 humanoid robot going one-on-one with an actual human opponent in a boxing ring. That has since morphed into a full-on robot fight between two of the company’s G1 robots, complete with a referee and turnbuckles.
Climbing the Unitree
The robots aren’t quite ready for playing dirty (at least, not on purpose), and they won’t be winning at your local fight club any time soon, but it is plenty disconcerting to see a pair of robots knocking each other about. It might be time to start brushing up on your kickboxing. And possibly start practising body hardening. Robots have metal components. You… don’t.
Unitree’s fights — more of a promo for the company’s robots than anything else — aired on China’s CCTV 10 earlier this week. It featured the 1.3-metre robots kitted out for combat in an actual ring, with spectators and sports event-like overlays on the broadcast. It’s this latter point that makes the in-ring antics seem surreal. We’re watching robots kick the lubricant out of each other now?
As before, a moderately-sized human being can probably overpower one of these guys. It’ll feel, emotionally, a bit like kicking an eleven-year-old in the chest. Unitree’s G1 even has a similar weight, which may cause enough hesitation for those sensor-driven servomotors to get a decent shot or two in before you pick it up and whip it away. Also, as before, the robots seem fairly resilient, getting up from knockdowns with disconcerting agility.
Imperfections are still clearly visible during Unitree’s fights. On occasion, the combatants will be pushed or turned aside. These events result in pauses as tracking is reacquired (in one instance, this is facilitated by a kick to the cranium area) before mutual sparring resumes. Still, these are robots. Fighting each other. In a boxing ring.
