A1: The robot of Unitree which could democratize humanoids with its shock price

Large robotics companies already announce it for some time: we will soon have a humanoid robot at home to help us in domestic tasks. Several models are already working at the factory, such as Figure 02 or Optimus de Tesla.

But there are still several obstacles to overcome before a democratization of humanoid robots. One is purely technical, and simply requires that robots are able to perform the requested tasks. A real race is launched between manufacturers to develop the most agile robots, as well as AI capable of ordering them. But the main obstacle to an adoption by the general public will be above all the price.

Low -cost innovation signed SURITE

And here is the Unitree solution! Its new R1 robot is almost three times cheaper than its previous low cost robot, the G1. The manufacturer shows all its agility in a video, where the robot runs in the grass, sketches a few boxing movements, and performs a wheel and reversed tense support.

However, it is not yet the model that will clean up for you. For Unitree, it is an “smart companion”. For what ? Simply because he has no hands strictly speaking. Like the Lego figurines, it has no articulated fingers. He cannot therefore manipulate objects, and even less do the dishes.

This new robot measures 121 cm for a weight of 25 kg. It is therefore not a simple toy, and it has all the equipment for a possible autonomous operation: eight core processor and graphic chip, stereoscopic camera, four microphones, stereo speakers, and even Wi-Fi 6 as well as Bluetooth 5.2. According to Unitree, its AI is a large multimodal model that supports images and voice.

When robotics becomes (almost) affordable

The robot is announced at only $ 5,900, around 5,000 euros, with a fully customizable finish. It is the first time that a real humanoid robot has reached such a low price. Elon Musk had mentioned a price between 20,000 and 30,000 dollars for its Optimus robot, and even the G1 of Suniter, so far considered to be particularly affordable, costs 16,000 dollars.

Obviously, it is not within the reach of all budgets, but it is close to the price of certain high -end consumer devices, such as certain configurations of laptops or MacBook Pro, or even an Apple Vision Pro with 1 TB of storage. Unitree has not yet indicated when it is possible to buy the R1, but there is no doubt that he will make a real buzz on social networks. Is this the start of the democratization of humanoid robots?