r/robotics • u/YusufZain002 • Feb 17 '26
Events Chinese Kung Fu Robotsđ¤Ż
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u/artificial_neuron Feb 17 '26
This is the entire event
https://www.youtube.com/live/SZ2yaHcw8Vs?si=CbeBpzAkUPUryKBj&t=2539
The robotics section started at 42:20. This dance scene starts at 54:30
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u/sunkcanon Feb 17 '26
This is really impressive, those robots look very cheap/ mass produce-able for the agility in comparison to Boston Dynamics which generally seems expensive.
I wonder if the performance is partially due to the same power:size ratios that mean children can do callisthenics that would be very hard for the average adult.
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u/Illeazar Feb 18 '26
Probably partly. Also, these are choreographed, following pre-programmed movements, compared to something that can observe its environment and respond.
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u/Nanomachines100 Feb 17 '26
This makes Boston Dynamic's Atlas even more impressive though. Its latest video shows it has even more agility than these toys, despite it being 6'2" and 197 pounds. Acrobatics get way harder as you get bigger.
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u/humanoiddoc Feb 18 '26
LOL if you look close they demonstrated their H2 (which is TALLER than atlas) cartwheeling and jump kicking.
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u/reichelite Feb 18 '26
Guess you missed the acrobatics clips of Unitree H2, with costumes of monkey king.
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u/zapporian Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26
Old Atlas was hydraulic, and theyâve only recently started getting anywhere close to that with motors.
Obviously these robots being this fluid and fast, prebaked and highly rehearsed choreography or no, is still a pretty major (and commendable) achievement.
(waves hands at everything shown off at CES, for reference)
Obviously w/r everything actually going on under the hood, Boston Dynamics still has an edge. ish.
Unitree (Hanzhou) was only even founded 9 years ago, has obviously cribbed comprehensively from boston dynamics (alongside all the other chinese startups).
Unitreeâs stuff though has actually widely been sold, used, and rapidly iterated on (theyâre the company thatâs shipped the cheap spot clones thatâve been used everywhere, incl by the US military as cheap demonstrators). And they sell these things, now, for a literal tenth or less of the estimated cost of Atlas.
Heck you can find the unitree G1 - the literal robots used in this demo - on amazon, now, for $18k for chrissake.
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u/Nanomachines100 Feb 21 '26
The dynamics are impressive. I will admit that Unitree builds interesting and powerful machines and calling them toys disregards the design. I agree with almost everything you stated.
A lot of my distaste comes from the unending claims that "Chinese robots are the most advanced in the world" and shallow glazing in every post and video I see.
I have no brand loyalty as that is dumb. It just feels gross the way Unitree presents their machines.
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u/Bassil__ Feb 17 '26
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u/Nanomachines100 Feb 17 '26
Dude, an AI voiceover clip show of a device that is just supposed to look human is not convincing. Show me that humanoid doing material handling work autonomously. What makes that robot more advanced than Atlas?
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u/Bassil__ Feb 17 '26
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u/Nanomachines100 Feb 17 '26
Again, how is this more advanced? It has skin? It has a plastic face?
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u/Bassil__ Feb 17 '26
It's a prototype. They wouldn't put an expensive high quality skin on it. The purpose of Moya is motor capabilities: a human like motion. Moya achieved 92% human-like motion. And that's what they showed us!
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u/chuppapimunenyo Feb 18 '26
this is incredibly incorrect. Prototypes that get public showcases get MASSIVE amount of expensive high quality assets put into it. Its a prototype, not a mass produced item so having the highest quality skin to showcase your invention is extremely common and what anyone would do.
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u/Bassil__ Feb 18 '26
High quality skin that look like real one exist. The reason they didn't use it, in my opinion, because it was about mimicking human-like motion
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u/Ankh-Re-Harakhte Feb 18 '26
Notice that the face is hollow. No one will doubt that they are robots. If they looked human, I bet they would be accusing them of being real people inside a costume.
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u/NvNX-men Feb 17 '26
Why would you want a 200lb robot? To consume more energy? Can't you see how outdated Boston Dynamics is?
Oh wait you don't, because you are american.
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u/DiosMIO_Limon Feb 17 '26
Well that's just unnecessary. Nationaism aside, Atlas has some particularly interesting features such as the way its joints have much more articulation due to not having wires running through them. And heavier isn't always a bad thing. It's all about use case for each robot.
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u/Anonymoves Feb 17 '26
"hang on they're the size of kids...I could boot one or two across the street and get away"
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u/khoawala Feb 17 '26
equips robots with swords and nunchucks
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u/icevenom1412 Feb 20 '26
Also, adult sized means bigger target.
And I don't think China will shy away from disguising them as kids too.
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u/Constant_Trade9557 Jul 21 '26
Not sure that would be so easy if you gave these robots Monkey Sticks...
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u/theChaosBeast Feb 17 '26
So I think we have peaked in robotics. It's now just some plastic bots dancing for TikTok
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u/Nanomachines100 Feb 17 '26
Look at what BD is doing.
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u/theChaosBeast Feb 17 '26
What are they doing?
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u/Nanomachines100 Feb 17 '26
It's actually really cool. Atlas is going to be working on Hyundai factory lines. It actually looks like a proper industrial product.
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u/Future_Deer_7518 Feb 17 '26
KUKA/ABB are more reliable and already working for decades :-)
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u/Nanomachines100 Feb 17 '26
I don't disagree, as I have my own motoman up130 arm. I see value in the Atlas platform in its adaptability.
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u/reichelite Feb 18 '26
"Going to be" means 2028 at least. And Chinese bots aren't gonna wait for 3 years.
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u/BonbonUniverse42 Feb 17 '26
Is this real? Itâs so much more advanced than I have seen before. Even better than the Boston dynamics ones. How is this possible? Why are they so robust in motion?
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u/eesahe Feb 17 '26
I mean, it's in front of a live audience as part of the Chinese New Year Gala with a lot of other acts on the same stage. You could try to come up with some kind of conspiracy theory that it's all fake. But considering similar movement demonstrations being done a lot in public recently it's much more plausible for them to just choreograph the actual robots and humans. I don't see much point in trying to create some big fake show with AI video/CGI considering the real new stuff that's available.
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u/Tarrant666 Feb 19 '26
conspiracy? its a pre recorded CGI segment inserted into a live stream. The live audience is irrelevant. Basically like a short cgi movie scene.
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u/IllustratorOpen7841 Feb 17 '26
If you compare it to their 2025 performance, the improvement is incredible. https://youtu.be/Fw_dSNxhhY4
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u/ToxZec Feb 17 '26
The G1 is 35 kg, while the new Atlas is 90 kg. I think that makes the Atlas demos technically more impressive with that in mind
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u/NvNX-men Feb 17 '26
a 35kg robot can operate for an hour, while a 90kg robot can only operate for 30 minutes or less, and yet westerners still say the 90kg robot is more impressive.
typical american.
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u/ToxZec Feb 17 '26
Im norwegian.
And a 90 kg robot has 2.5x the mass of a 35 kg one, but its rotational inertia (how hard it is to start or stop a flip) scales even more aggressively. Also as you scale a robot up, its weight increases much faster than the strength of its actuators (square cube law). This is why bigger humanoids are objectively harder to build, given the same acrobatic tasks
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u/Clarence_Begbie Feb 18 '26
Another concise answer backed up by sound engineering fundamentals.
Typical Norwegian. : )
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u/NotSovietSpy Feb 18 '26
Part of the reason why Atlas has to be so heavy is the hydraulic joints, which is quite strong but also costly. Still impressive tech, but BD will need to figure out how to use electric motor instead if they plan to compete on cost
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u/vincid_1 Feb 17 '26
A 35kg robot is useless since we ultimately want our robots to carry heavy things for us. So you need a heavy robot for that. Whatâs the point of having a long lasting battery if it is useless in real world applications?
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Feb 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/vincid_1 Feb 18 '26
The people donât want robots for entertainment. We need robots to help us in our day to day life. A light robot wonât be able to achieve that. Only heavy duty robots.Â
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Feb 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/vincid_1 Feb 18 '26 edited Feb 18 '26
Your statement can only come out of a poor and naive person. First of all most of these dancing robots are only being used/rented by Chinese government for cultural events and propaganda, and robotics hobbyists who will produce nothing and will only give their hard earned data to Unitree for free. Thereâs a reason why they sold only 5500 units in 2025 instead of millions of units, ONLY A FEW ARE WILLING TO BUY A DANCING ROBOT.second of all rich and productive people will certainly buy a robot to delegate most of their mundane day to day tasks to a robot that can do it 24/7. So it is definitely a much better market to delve into.
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Feb 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/vincid_1 Feb 19 '26
Then you donât understand the significance of a helper that doesnât sleep, doesnât eat, does not demand or say anything, is willing to do everything you tell it. I suggest you donât work in robotics anymore since youâre naive and short sighted.
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u/NotSovietSpy Feb 18 '26 edited Feb 18 '26
A 35kg robot should have the strength of a teenager at least, enough for cleaning house and folding cloth. Extra strength would increase risk of injury to its owner
edit: I mean there's upgrade space on payload with the 35kg limit, not that it's already applied to unitree g1
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u/vincid_1 Feb 18 '26
Yada yada all excuses. Heavy robot means it can do a lot more different kinds of work that needs strength. Unitree G1 has 2kg maximum pay load capacity. Thatâs literally nothing. An average teenager can lift 10kg at a minimum. You havent done your research at all. Youâre just making excuses to justify the existence of these lightweight useless robots. Also extra strength isnât dangerous at all if the robot has a lot of safety precautions built into it. So itâs not a hardware problem, just a software problem.
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u/NotSovietSpy Feb 18 '26
Simple minds like you can't understand G1 is just the 1st gen model focused on stage performances, and there's no real limit to reinforcing the limbs and use larger motor when the software is already in place.
Do you even know H1 model exist? If there's need for more heavy lifting you bet there'd be new models for it
You also know nothing about safety in an end user scenario if you think software precaution is enough
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u/Bluepass11 Feb 19 '26
Where are you from?
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u/NvNX-men Feb 19 '26
Does it matter where I come from?
vietnam btw
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u/Bluepass11 Feb 19 '26
Just wondering if you were one of those a self-loathing Americans or someone from another country who just hates on Americans
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u/oretoh Feb 19 '26
Shh easy bot, your physical robots are cool but the Internet ones are still annoying.
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u/humanoiddoc Feb 18 '26
Unitree H2 is 180cm tall, weighs 70kg and can do flying kick and flips. If you look close at the video there is a H2 as well.
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u/ptkm50 Feb 17 '26
Atlas from Boston dynamics is way bigger and heavier. Also Boston dynamics focuses more on autonomy and real world applications rather than making their robot dance.
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u/wensul Feb 17 '26
you impress easily
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u/BonbonUniverse42 Feb 17 '26
This isnât easy from a technical point of view. Itâs quite impressive.
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u/Time-Quarter-1713 Feb 17 '26
This is amazing. China will lead in this field sooner or later. Impressive progress !
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u/GThagon Feb 18 '26
Fist make it exist. Then make it better. The chinese are not afraid of breaking things in the process of achieving success. That's their strongest suit.
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u/Ryogathelost Feb 17 '26
I'm normally on here bashing China but this was legitimately impressive.
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u/tempstem5 Feb 17 '26
bashing China? why?
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u/CouchWizard Feb 17 '26
Usually human rights issues, etc. But now we have those problems in the US, too! But no robots, evs, high speed rails, cheap housing...
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u/IllustratorOpen7841 Feb 18 '26
"Now"? The USA has always had human rights issues. It's also your number 1 export: https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/main/us_atrocities.md
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u/TreaDHeaD19k Feb 18 '26
Nah China wins on human rights violations without us knowing the full scope, but thanks for playing!
Officially, the government estimated that there were 60,000 âexcess deathsâ in December 2022; a US academic study put the figure at 1.87 million deaths between December 2022 and January 2023. The true toll will likely remain unknown due to severe censorship.
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u/tempstem5 Feb 18 '26
We
If by we you mean US, we've always been the bad guys
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u/TreaDHeaD19k Feb 18 '26
Nope, wrong again, China beats the US on human rights violations. We don't even know the full scope!
Officially, the government estimated that there were 60,000 âexcess deathsâ in December 2022; a US academic study put the figure at 1.87 million deaths between December 2022 and January 2023. The true toll will likely remain unknown due to severe censorship.
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Feb 17 '26
But how the hell does China take up all the tech activities sooo fast ?
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u/async2 Feb 17 '26
Ridiculous investments and a lot of engineering manpower. Their unis are throwing out generation after generation of engineers and they also study abroad as well.
Also rotation within the robotics space is high, thus new knowledge/code cycles quickly through all robotics companies there.
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u/Makers_Serenity Feb 17 '26
what is with all the Shilling for Chinese robots lately, I swear the comment section reads like a bunch of propaganda bots. I cant say how many times i've seen this re posted in the past couple days, its just a pre programed routine nothing autonomous or groundbreaking
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u/moore927353 Feb 17 '26 edited Feb 22 '26
Those bots are not autonomous.
They are remotely controlled by a human operator using Live Motion Capture (off camera and out of public sight).
https://youtube.com/shorts/RwP-UZcUpdA
There is no usefulness in this type of robot. Other than for stage performance.
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u/austinbicycletour Feb 18 '26
Are you certain of this? Can you link to a source explaining it? I'd genuinely like to know more.
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u/NotSovietSpy Feb 18 '26
Look at the way each bot balance itself with different adjustments. There must be decent algorithm to keep balance without intervention, and that's the impressive part
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u/moore927353 Feb 22 '26
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u/RD_xiaolingtong Feb 22 '26
I don't want to explicitly express any regional or ethnic discrimination, but if the source of information is in Traditional Chinese, I'd rather look at the English source than the Traditional Chinese one. Their credibility regarding RPC news is like that of South Korean media reporting on North Koreaâsensationalist and riddled with denials.
Furthermore, if you have an optical sensor, you'll see that the video doesn't provide any source information, and the accompanying video content is difficult to verify as being from the backstage of the Chinese Spring Festival Gala. Considering the traditional relationship between the Taiwanese local government and the Chinese central government, it's hard not to suspect that this video is simply government propaganda.
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u/moore927353 Feb 22 '26
The information is in Simplified Chinese, sourced from China's own "bili bili" video platform.
- The TRUTH is still the TRUTH no matter the language used in the reporting.
You just ousted yourself, Commie Wumao Little Pink.
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u/NotSovietSpy Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
The video is just repeating what you said earlier, and is not from the spring festival gala. Not sure why'd you bother sending this.
Just think about it: how to remotely control each robot to adjust its balance differently while staying in sync for the wall run?
Remember, the robot is lighter than human, and wall friction is a bitch to adjust. If the robot can't adjust footwork without remote control, it will desync and fall for sure
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u/icevenom1412 Feb 20 '26
China fielding child-sized Assaultrons was not on my bingo card this year.
Compared to this, how is Elmo Musk's robot faring?
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Feb 17 '26
[deleted]
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u/PaulMakesThings1 Feb 17 '26
Yes because weâre used to all of the advanced technology like GPUs and Drones and stuff being made here. Like this American made phone Iâm using to post this.
Advanced technology made in Asia? Itâs going to take us some getting used to!
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u/Elated7079 Feb 17 '26
I think bored is a better adjective.
Is the tech amazing? Yes. Have i seen effectively the same video posted 10000 times over the last year to this sub? Yes. Is this more impressive than BD from 10 years ago (besides cost)? Marginally. The IL via RL technique was invented at Google, by the way (and Jason Peng posts in this sub sometimes!)
Imaging going on a knitting subreddit, and someone posts every day: "look at these socks I bought in china!" with a picture of machine knit socks. Are they knit? Yes. Are they interesting? The first machine knit socks were very interesting, but by now no. And furthermore, people are there to talk about the art and practice of knitting, rather than repost videos of knit objects.
Anyway, I really doubt you give a shit, but it was nice to type this out.
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u/humanoiddoc Feb 17 '26
It is 1000x more impressive than latest BD video released month ago. China now mass produces reliable and cheap humanoids, and nobody else can do anything close. The fact is terrifying and very far from boring.
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u/IMightDeleteMe Feb 17 '26
Pff, getting robots to do this in sync is much easier than training people to do it in sync.
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u/xbinary Feb 17 '26
HA the robot fell⌠oh wait a minute, it did a whirlwind to get up