In search of inspiration from computer games and science fiction films, equipment manufacturers sometimes go so far as to present strange and unpopular electric pickup trucks like the Tesla Cybertruck. The Chinese company Unitree is also not afraid to experiment, and recently its founder demonstrated a walking robot with a cabin in which a person rides.
Equipped with two legs and two arms, the GD01 robot can move perfectly without a person in the cabin. It can also walk on all fours, as if arching its back until its forelimbs support it. In this position, the rider in the robot's built-in "chest" would lie face up on a chair.
A short video featuring Unitree Robotics founder Wang Xinxin clearly shows that this peculiar “avatar“ can perform various tasks requiring strength and maneuverability that humans naturally lack. Demonstrating how the robot breaks a concrete wall with a single blow, the company simultaneously emphasizes the purely civilian focus of the GD01, calling for the robot to be used with all due caution and responsibility.
With a person in the cabin, such a robot weighs approximately 500 kg, and its price, if released on the market, will start at $ 650,000. Other specifications and availability dates for the GD01 robot were not specified. In essence, Unitree needs it more to attract attention for its initial public offering.
Last year, Unitree became the largest supplier of humanoid robots in the world, although they were mainly offered in China. Unitree was also one of the few companies in this market segment to boast a profit of $ 88 million, while its revenue increased by more than four times times to $251 million.