While so many humanoid robots continue to walk as if they have back pain or knee problems, Unitree’s G1 robot hit the market last year and showed amazing fluidity.
Daily Sparkz has previously reported on the G1’s ability to move in ways that would make even the world’s best gymnasts jealous. In various videos, he can be seen in combat, recovering from falls, and even doing household chores.
And now a team of roboticists at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has taught the same G1 robot to move like a professional basketball player and even shoot baskets. It is truly an extraordinary achievement and makes us excited about the future of humanoid robots.
Working with Unitree’s compact and highly versatile G1 humanoid robot, the team somehow managed to make it look like a professional basketball player, competently handling the ball with fluid movements before throwing it towards the basket à la Nikola Jokić.
To achieve this feat, the roboticists used SkillMimic, an AI modeling framework that learns from human demonstrations in videos and motion tracking suits before optimizing those actions in virtual training environments until they are refined for real-world application, Interesting Engineering reported.
Those of you who follow this sort of thing may remember a humanoid robot that Toyota introduced seven years ago that can also shoot hoops. However, the original version could only throw the basketball from a fixed position, while a newer version uses wheels that allow it to move around the court.
Toyota’s robot doesn’t have nearly the agility and body movement of the G1 robot, which is what makes Unitree’s machine so special.
The roboticists’ work with the G1 represents a breakthrough in transferring AI from simulation to reality, enabling humanoid robots to master complex, dynamic tasks in unstructured real-world environments after simulated training.
Narrowing the gap between laboratory simulations and practical applications could have a big impact on the use of humanoid robots in locations such as warehouses and other places where robots work with humans – a focus for the growing number of companies building such systems.
Unitree introduced the G1 humanoid robot last year and began selling it in February for around $13,000, targeting research institutions, universities and companies for research and development in humanoid robotics and AI. This guy in the US also bought one for his home workshop and came up with this terrifying creation in time for Halloween.
