Humanoid

In its latest video, Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot performs mundane tasks entirely autonomously using a machine learning vision model, but with a twist. And we do mean "twist."

Brand new videos on the Tesla and Unitree humanoids perfectly illustrate the different approaches behind these two cutting-edge robots. Optimus is clearly focused on useful work, ASAP – while the Unitree G1 is becoming surprisingly agile and athletic.

A few months back, China's Robot Era demonstrated the strolling capabilities of its XBot-L humanoid by setting it loose on the Great Wall of China. Now the company has released video footage of two flagship Star1 models racing through the Gobi Desert.

One of the more interesting and unique robots in the emerging humanoid space has received an unexpected upgrade. Shanghai's Fourier Intelligence has just launched the GR-2 – taller, heavier, smarter, more dextrous and much stronger than the GR-1.

The fastest any human has ever run on record was Usain Bolt. He was clocked at a ridiculously quick 27.79 mph (44.72 km/h) when he ran a 9.58-second 100-meter dash. Two-legged robots can run even faster, and it looks really weird.

Back in February, Norway's 1X showed off the progress it had made with its pick-and-place workplace humanoid, Eve. Now the OpenAI-backed company has released video footage of its latest prototype, a bipedal butlerbot named Neo Beta.

Imagine that you're injured on a remote mountain path but have managed to contact emergency rescue. The first to arrive on the scene could be a small humanoid robot wearing a jetpack if Italian research bears fruit.

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.

Unitree Robotics is a relatively recent entry in the general-purpose humanoid space, but its $16,000 G1 model is already proving itself to be quite the performer. So much so that the company has now revealed a version that's ready for mass production.

California-based robotics outfit Figure has today announced its second-generation humanoid robot, which is initially being aimed at production lines in commercial settings, but the company is promising a bipedal butler in our homes in the near future.

We're already seeing humanoid robots entering the workplace, but when will we be able to kick back and let the service droid take care of household chores? A new video from Germany's Neura Robotics shows this dream is inching ever closer to reality.

Nearly six months ago, Figure announced its gleaming silver humanoid robot had got its first job working at a BMW manufacturing plant. It's been training up for the occasion, and new video shows how far this general-purpose worker has come.