Chinese humanoid robot Star1 breaks speed record while running
It's better and faster to walk with shoes. This also seems to apply to humanoid robots.
With shoes on its feet, the humanoid Star1 robot has the edge when it comes to walking.
(Image: Robot Era (Screenshot))
Scientists from the robotics company Robot Era have dressed a humanoid Star1 robot in conventional running shoes and pitted it against an identical robot without running shoes. The robot with sneakers achieved a higher running speed than its opponent. The Star1 also broke the running record for humanoid robots: during tests in the Gobi Desert, it reached a top speed of 8 mph, approximately 12.98 km/h (3.6 m/s). The running record set in March by the humanoid H1 from Unitree Robotics of around 11.88 km/h (3.3 m/s) has thus been beaten.
The Star1 is a humanoid robot that is 171 cm tall and weighs around 65 kg. It uses high-torque electric motors in the leg actuators. It is controlled while walking by artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms.
Faster with running shoes
The robot with running shoes and its shoeless counterpart ran on different surfaces, including grassland, gravel, roads and paved ground. The Star1 with shoes managed to maintain its top speed for over 34 minutes on different surfaces, breaking the current running record for humanoid robots.
Videos by heise
Robot Era does not specify how much slower the Star1 robot was without shoes. However, the shoes apparently make a significant difference: in one sequence in the video, you can see how the soled robot can overtake its barefoot colleague with a clear excess of speed.
The difference is said to result from the cushioning and grip of the shoes. Both also have an impact on the AI-controlled running characteristics of the robot, which can then run more efficiently and therefore faster.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externes YouTube-Video (Google Ireland Limited) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (Google Ireland Limited) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
Until now, the unofficial speed record was held by the humanoid robot Unitree H1. Other manufacturers of humanoid robots, on the other hand, are not so keen on setting records. Tesla, Figure and Boston Dynamics, for example, are concentrating on making their current humanoid robots fit for the working world. They don't have to set running records or even high jump records.
(olb)
