Acro-bot

The robotics race has produced machines that not only physically resemble humans but also act like them.

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KEARI), for example, developed the ARMstrong Dex for disaster response. KEARI has released a video showing a couple of the robot’s emergency skills.

The robot can pitch a 500-milliliter bottle of water about 10 feet from across a room into a barrel, New York Post (NYP) reported.

Also, the remote-controlled robot can move over rough, debris-filled ground, turn valves, move rubble, hook up wires, and use tools like fire extinguishers.

Meanwhile, China’s Unitree Robotics released on 25 July a video of its new humanoid robot, R1.

Featuring 26 joints, the 50-pound machine is shown doing cartwheels and handstands, punching, spin-kicking the air, and running across a grassy lawn. Artificial intelligence powers R1’s voice and image recognition capability.

Its affordable $5,900 price is equally amazing as its Chinese maker reportedly aims to bring its machine into everyday use in households, factories, and even the military, NYP said.

Some, however, are doubtful of R1’s talents, asking in their posts if it can vacuum, operate a washing machine, fold and press clothes, and cook.

Another commenter said he doesn’t need R1’s acrobatic skills as his daughter already does gymnastics.