For only $5,900
We know that one day it will be possible to buy a humanoid robot that runs somersaults and gets up from the ground, but what if I told you that it would have arrived? Right now it's not for everyone, but if you have about $6,000 available, you can buy one and take it home. China just made this a reality. Unitree Robotics, a company that has already distinguished itself with its robotic dogs, industrial platforms and other humanoid models, has just launched the R1, a 26-joint humanoid with acrobatic performance and a price that is shaking up the robotics sector around the world.
The R1 hits the market for $5,900, something that a few days ago was considered unfeasible for this type of technology. In official videos, the robot appears going down slopes, running, supporting itself with its hands on the ground and legs up, getting up with agility after falls and executing movements that we only saw in models that cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The R1 not only appears as the cheapest of the new generation, but also offers amazing performance for a fraction of the cost, Unitree did not launch the R1 as a toy for enthusiasts, but as an entry platform for developers and research centers. That is, it is fully functional and oriented towards practical tasks, from field tests to uses in light industrial environments.
In practice, the company wants developers to use the same software and control architecture of its most advanced robots such as the G1 and H1, already used by automobile manufacturers such as Gily and N.O., this creates a scalable ecosystem and strengthens Unitree as a reference in accessible robotics.
It will be the first Robots company to go public in China.
The launch puts direct pressure on American and European companies, the Tesla Optimus, for example, should only drop to $20,000 when production reaches one million units per year, the figure 2 from Figure AI costs around $50,000.
Electronic's Apollo also targets that price range, but none of them are even close to $5,900 and even open source projects like the Hope JR the Hugging Face cost over $3,000 and are light years away in physical capacity and structure.
The announcement of the R1 came shortly after Unitree began the IPO process in China. If everything goes as expected, it will be the first Robot company to go public in the country and this changes everything. With new capital, modular structure, low price and impressive videos, the R1 has everything to be the most popular model in the world in its segment.
It may not be the strongest, nor the smartest, but it is accessible, versatile and functional, an interesting combination for the rapid advancement of technology in the coming decades.
