A few short months after Chinese startup Astribot released jaw-dropping video footage of its humanoid helper, the company has now unveiled a launch video for the S1 – which shows the bot making waffles, feeding the cat, serving tea and shooting hoops.
When the S1 was first revealed in April, we did wonder why all of the promo footage showed the top half of the bot only. Now we know why, as the newly-refined S1 has been wheeled into the spotlight for its official launch.
Where much humanoid development is focused on getting bipeds into factories and manufacturing facilities, it very much looks like Astribot is taking aim at domestic duties, as you can see in the launch video below (be sure to watch to the end).
Astribot has decided against employing a pair of jointed lower limbs for the S1, opting for a much less complicated and ultimately more reliable setup of motorized wheels and a single "leg" that bends at the "knee" and base. It also looks like the humanoid helper isn't running on battery power alone as a cable is clearly shown connected to the base at one point in the video.
Despite the clear differences to April's prototype – such as a much less pronounced chest area and a fuller head module (as opposed to the basic camera/sensor attachment of old) – the company's website doesn't appear to have been updated yet. So the S1 is still shown as having a top speed of 10 meters per second, an acceleration of round 100 m/s2, seven degrees of freedom in each arm and the ability for each arm to handle payloads of up to 10 kg.
At the end of the arm is a sensor-packing dual-digit gripper instead of the human-like robo-hand that's common elsewhere in the humanoid development space, but this doesn't seem to stop the S1 from performing a number of complex tasks. And the AI-learned chores demonstrated here have a more rounded feel to them, perhaps indicating the upcoming production readiness of the robot.
Again, rather frustratingly, the company doesn't go into any detail about hardware specs or AI learning methods used to teach the humanoid its skillset – which now includes martial arts instruction, vacuuming a room, waffle making and feeding the cat while also allowing for remote play with the feline companion using VR goggles.
Still, it's impressive stuff from a very young company. All footage is claimed genuine and recorded at 1x speed, and apart from teasing the cat, teleoperation was not used. And that's about all we can share at this point, though we are awaiting more information from the company and will fill you in as soon as that lands.
Source: Astribot
