After decades of being tortured, shoved, kicked, burned, and bludgeoned, robots are finally getting their chance to fight back. Sort of.
This weekend, Chinese robotics maker Unitree says it will livestream the world’s first boxing match between two of its humanoid robots. The event, titled Unitree Iron Fist King: Awakening, will feature a face-off between two of Unitree’s 4.3-foot-tall G1 robots. The robots will reportedly be remotely controlled by human engineers, though they are also expected to demonstrate some autonomous, pre-programmed actions as well. Earlier this week, the two robots previewed some of their moves at an elementary school in Hangzhou, China.
Video released by Unitree earlier this month shows the robots, boxing gloves strapped on, “training” with their human coaches. The petite robots throw a few hooks with their arms before being pushed to the ground. One quickly gets back up and, after briefly struggling to face the right direction, spins around and delivers a straight kick, 300-style. Unitree claims its robots use a motion-capture training system that helps them learn from past mistakes and improve over time.
The training video also shows the two robots briefly sparring with each other. The clacking sound of steel fills the room as they exchange a flurry of punches. At one point, both simultaneously deliver knee kicks to each other’s groin area, sending the robot in blue gear tumbling to the ground.
“The robot is actively learning even more here skills,” the company notes in a caption towards the end of the video.
Related: [Worryingly bendy humanoid robot can crush nuts, slice Coke bottles]
Humans have a long history of forcing robots to fight
The human tendency to force robots to fight for our amusement isn’t entirely new. The show Battle Bots, which dates back to the late 1990s revolved around engineers creating and designing remote-controlled robots, often armed to the teeth with electric saws and flamethrowers, and forcing them to duke it out. Many, many robots were reduced to scrap metal over the show’s 12 seasons.
Since then, engineers around the world have been experimenting with new ways to teach bipedal, humanoid robots how to throw punches and land kicks without stumbling or falling. Sometimes these machines are remotely controlled by human operators. In other cases, semi-autonomous robots have learned to “mirror” physical movements observed in humans. More advanced autonomous robots, like those being developed by Boston Dynamics and Figure, can move around their environment and perform pre-programmed actions. Neither of those companies, it’s worth noting, have announced any plans to make their robots fight.
China is quickly becoming a center stage for public displays of humanoid robot athletic competition. Last month, more than 20 robotics companies entered their robots into a half-marathon race in Beijing, where they competed against each other and human runners. The results were underwhelming. Media reports from the event claimed many of the machines failed to make it past the starting line. Others veered off course, with one reportedly even crashing into a barrier. The first robot to cross the finish line—a machine designed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center—did so nearly an hour and forty minutes after the first human completed the race. Only six robots finished.
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