urban willow
Okay, so I know Vedal has mentioned some interest in chinese robotics before, but I really want to have a single entry point for the information related to this topic, since I was suggested to do so by some folks in NN.
Humanoid robots in China are progressing at a rapid pace and these robots are definitely expanding and improving month after month. I think a fantastic entry point for Neuro to get a "robot body" or Evil (obviously), is the Unitree G1, it's the one you see in all the memes where it falls over, does kungfu or is dressed up. The Unitree H1 even performed at the Spring Festival Gala in 2025 (and might return for 2026?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw_dSNxhhY4
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/i-am-now-slightly-obsessed-with-uncle-bot-a-chinese-robot-in-people-clothes-thats-rapidly-becoming-a-social-media-sensation/
So now for pricing and information:
https://www.alibaba.com/pla/For+Unitree+G1+Basic+Intelligent+Humanoid+Robot+More+Flexible+Basic+Smart+AI+Robot_1601601111912.html
https://www.unitree.com/g1
Vedal can buy a Unitree G1 for ~$14,000-$16,000 depending on where he shops. I'm not sure what the price is in euros, but I assume its fairly similar in pricing and I'm pretty sure Vedal has enough money to afford this currently, since his last subathon made him like a half-millionaire. That being said, Vedal has mentioned in the past that he wasn't sure about the software side of things and that's where my discussion comes into play. There is an SDK available for controlling movement and everything software related for the unitree robots.
https://support.unitree.com/home/en/G1_developer/get_sdk
https://www.unitree.com/opensource
This SDK has youtube tutorials in English:
https://youtu.be/wiIUF9pIDYw
and showcases of it's reinforcement learning:
https://youtu.be/FGnAeUXRZ4E
It seems to me based on the limited knowledge I have of both the SDK and Neuro's 3D setup that translating her movements in 3D Unity(Her x/y/z/ coordinates) to the SDK wouldn't be too difficult, but maybe I'm incorrect. Feel free to discuss this.
Another complaint I've seen has been that the unitree g1 doesn't have usable hands. This is actually only partially true. The G1 EDU has 3 fingered hands with optional tactile sensors. It's still quite limited and obviously 3-fingers isn't as human-like as we might want. The base model doesn't seem to have usable hands though. Unitree does provide a solution to this though, accessories!
https://airpuria.com/products/unitree-third-party-dexterity-one-handed
This is just an example, it seems theres a couple accessories but its not available from the official unitree website. That being said, hands can be swapped out, making the lack of usable hands a non-issue.
I realize this might seem like a giant ad for Unitree, but they aren't the only company in this space.
A couple weeks ago, the company LimX dynamics showcased their robot Oli, using an AI Operating System capable of advanced real-world interaction and understanding.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hIqs3TBb5g
This robot is more expensive, I read it retails at almost 22k. If any Chinese swarm know of any other companies with robots on the market, I'd love to know about them and how they compare.
It seems like Oli isn't as open source as Unitree, I couldn't find any youtube tutorials/videos like sentdex's but it does have documentation.
https://cwjgfm21di.feishu.cn/wiki/L8Acw8B6gio5vvkOWf3c3tLYnKb
Let me know what you think about all this, I want to hear thoughts on if this seems doable or manageable. I know there is a fairly active group in swarm already working on making a custom robot body for Neuro. I think this could be a good step towards Vedal using that custom robot body in the future.
I, for one, am excited for the future of Neuro and Evil in real life bodies interacting with the real world through these kinds of technologies. Vedal might be able to have his laundry done by Neuro sooner than we realize...
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