A Chinese humanoid robot is the ‘fastest in the world’ thanks to one surprising addition.
The robot can run at top speeds of just over eight miles an hour, meaning it’s the fastest out there.
Scientists have worked at adapting the robot, known as STAR1, in order to make it run quicker.
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So, how have they done it? With the extra help of footwear.
It’s a bipedal robot, meaning it walks on two legs like a human. It’s also 5 ft 7 in and weighs around 143 lbs.
The team behind the innovation put two of the robots up against each other and gave one a pair of sneakers to see if it would help it to run faster.
The race took place in the Gobi Desert in northwestern China where the robots were faced with different types of terrain such as grass and gravel.
Despite this, the one wearing shoes was able to keep running at its top speed for 34 minutes.
The robot is powered by artificial intelligence and has 12 degrees of freedom, which is the number of joints and the range of movement it has.
However, STAR1 isn’t the only robot that’s making the headlines recently.
Elon Musk showcased the Optimus Gen 2 bot at a recent Tesla event.
The billionaire also unveiled the new Cybercab, a car that drives fully autonomously with no steering wheel or foot pedals.
The Tesla bot was first announced back in 2021 and a prototype was displayed in 2022.
The tech mogul revealed on X, formerly Twitter, that he plans to have ‘genuinely useful humanoid robots in low production for Tesla internal use next year and, hopefully, high production for other companies in 2026’.
Low production would start at just over a thousand, with the potential of a few thousand to begin with but Musk predicts that there will soon be around 20 billion humanoid robots working in companies and homes.
This is based on the idea that every person in the world will need at least two robots and more will be required for manufacturing work.
There are currently two humanoid Tesla robots already working in a factory where they are able to perform tasks autonomously.
Of course, if you want a Tesla robot for yourself, it’ll come at a hefty price. While the official cost is not yet known, it’s estimated that they will be priced at around $20,000.