The race to put a humanoid robot in every home is accelerating, and the $5,900 Unitree R1 robot might just sprint to the front of the pack.
Unitree unveiled the pint-sized but “powerful” android on Friday with a new YouTube video and then followed with more details on an official product page on their website.
In the video, the Unitree R1 Intelligent Companion showcases its remarkable movement skills, which include cartwheels, handstands, boxing, kickboxing moves, and even running down a hill.
The robot comes equipped with binocular vision backed by LLM image and voice identification capabilities. None of that, though, was on display in the video, which focused on movement. In fact, there’s a brief message at the end of the clip that says, “Movement first, tasks as well (A diversity of movement is the foundation for completing tasks)”.
Unitree is well-known for producing versatile humanoid bots. I’ve seen a few in person, including the tiny but agile G1 and the taller and somewhat more frightening H1. G1 lists for $16,000, and the H1 lists for $90,000. Pricing under $ 6,000 is unheard of for Unitree and humanoid offerings in general. Figure AI’s Figure 02, for instance, will likely list for over $30,000.
As for what $5,900 might get you, the R1 is about four feet tall and weighs roughly 55 lbs, so it’s the size of a child. It features the aforementioned binocular camera, a 4-microphone array, speakers, an 8-core CPU and GPU (no word on whose silicon, but Unitree has been partnering with Nvidia), 26 joints, and hands that look as if they may be permanently fixed into fists. There’s a removable battery that promises one hour of activity.
There are, however, some significant caveats to consider. Unitree warns that the final robot may look different than what’s currently on display. At the bottom of the product page are some more dire (and often confusing) warnings, including:
“Currently, the global humanoid robot industry is in the early stages of exploration. Individual users are strongly advised to thoroughly understand the limitations of humanoid robots before making a purchase.”
and
“The humanoid robot has a complex structure and extremely powerful power. Users are asked to keep a sufficient safe distance between the humanoid robot and the humanoid robot. Please use with caution.”
So while the Unitree R1 might be pitched as a home helper robot, it’s hardly ready to be in anyone’s home.
The R1’s level of intelligence and autonomy, despite the built-in AI, remains a mystery. Most of the Unitree robots I’ve witnessed at CES have been either been remotely controlled or running through a set of previously scripted movements. To be useful in any home, they must marry all the sensors with awareness and enough intelligence to help and not harm their human owners.
Still, less than $6,000 for a robot with these advertised skills is something of a humanoid robotics breakthrough. I wonder if we can get one into the labs.
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lance.ulanoff@futurenet.com (Lance Ulanoff)
