Though robodogs are available for consumer purchase, most will be deployed to industry and research and maybe even security or rescue. Unitree's latest intrepid quadruped is tough, durable, fast and agile, and is ready for action.
As is now customary for any new breed of quadruped, Unitree has compiled and released video footage of its A2 "Stellar Explorer" doing its thing.
The action starts with the bot crashing through a glass barrier before back-flipping and padding over rocky terrain to demonstrate its agility. The A2 is seen breaking into slick dance moves on four legs, two and even one. It bolts down steps at a breathtakingly brisk pace and climbs up stone blocks with up to a meter (3.3 ft) of reach.
Impressive stuff, but the robo-pooch doesn't stop showing off there. About half way through the video, the A2 comes to a halt next to a human member of the Unitree family, who then steps up onto its back. Though my initial thought was that he was going to ride the robodog like a four-legged skateboard – which would be awesome – he instead jumps up and down to prove the robot's durability and standing load capacity of up to 100 kg (220 lb).
The A2 can carry stuff while on the move too, with the video showing a 30-kg (66-lb) payload being hauled through town – covering a distance of 12.55 km (7.8 miles) before the robot ran out of juice. However, the recommended max payload for continuous walking is a little less, at 25 kg.
The A2 benefits from two 9,000-mAh battery packs that combine for up to 5 hours (or 20 km/12.5 miles) of padding about when it doesn't have a payload on its back, or around 3 hours when fully loaded. These can be hot-swapped for continued use. Top speed on foot is 5 meters per second (11.2 mph), but the A2 can also be had in a wheeled configuration – though we've no specs for that one.
The joint motors enable 12 degrees of freedom, translating to a motion range from -58° to plus 58° at the body, -134 to 180°/-89 to 225° at the thighs, and -158 to -30° at the shank. Maximum joint torque is reported to be 180 Nm (133 lb.ft). All of which holds promise for a nimble, capable quadruped robot worker.
The A2 features an ultra-wide industrial LiDAR to the front and another at the rear for all-around depth awareness, as well as a HD vision camera and front light "to detect the environment ahead and eliminate blind spots." The robot is also capable of autonomous obstacle avoidance courtesy of the AI vision system and octa-core processing.
Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 are cooked in, with 4G and GPS available as options. Smart over-the-air updates will keep the system in tip-top condition. There are a bunch of physical external interfaces, including USB-C, CAN buses and Gigabit Ethernet. And the quadruped includes an onboard speaker and microphone array. Total weight comes in at 37 kg (81.6 lb), including dual batteries.
The Unitree A2 is designed for industrial deployment – including such things as site inspection duties, logistics operations and R&D exploration – and is available on a price-upon-asking kind of deal. Full specs and additional information are available via the link below.
Product page: Unitree A2
