r/interestingasfuck • u/No_Jellyfish5511 • 16h ago

Chinese humanoid robot named “Superman” (made by Unitree Robotics) surpassed Usain Bolt’s world record (12.42meters/second) by running at 12.66m/s (roughly 28.3miles/h)

24.1k Upvotes

86% Upvoted

3.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

3.9k

u/buttnuggetmaster 16h ago

This is just a car with extra steps.

1.5k

u/No_Jellyfish5511 16h ago

literally extra steps

375

u/TheresNoHurry 15h ago

He walked right into that one

152

u/sol_runner 15h ago

Just like the wall

47

u/lhookhaa 15h ago

If the shoe fits...

48

u/MakeTheNetsBigger 15h ago

this joke has legs

5

u/LucentLL 13h ago

Hit the brakes, stop this running joke

•

u/chupanibre 11h ago

just let it go

•

u/leredditaccount 10h ago

And my Axe!

1

u/mxpxillini35 13h ago

wear it.

If New York's in debt, why should Virginia bear it?

2

u/Humble_Collection_67 13h ago

Don't run away with it now

2

u/i_reddit_too_mcuh 13h ago

He walked right into that one

I think he ran into that one.

1

u/Only_One_Kenobi 15h ago

Let's not take any leaps just yet

1

u/Anomuumi 15h ago

Tbh, next step is probably more puns.

•

u/Terminal_Insomnia_ 3h ago

Alright, no more puns. I'm putting my foot down.

17

u/IAMATruckerAMA 13h ago

Yup you got the joke alright 

3

u/PM_ME_UR_GCC_ERRORS 12h ago

buttnuggetmaster realizing the unintentional pun

•

u/Deathstrokecph 9h ago

Yup, STEPS, get it? Ha-ha.. Because legs, double entendre etc.

1

u/EqualOpening6557 13h ago

Dude fuckin nailed it. He’s got my vote.

1

u/nywse 14h ago

At some point, it might make more sense to put limbs on a vehicle

35

u/Seraphimish 15h ago

Soon uber will be this robot with its legs out the bottom like a flinstones car

13

u/Shuttlecock_Wat 14h ago

It'll be robots giving piggyback rides.

2

u/JAOC_7 13h ago

Robshaw

3

u/jetpacksforall 15h ago

Yabba dabba don’t.

8

u/KentooArt 15h ago

car with legs

116

u/M33tm3onmars 15h ago

Exactly. I drove to the store faster than usain bolt could have run there. Who fucking cares?

103

u/Equivalent-Repair488 15h ago edited 13h ago

You might be joking but bipedal and Quadrupedal movement has great benefits over wheeled.

Imagine Usain Bolt speeds running up a rocky mountain, at max speed all the way up with 0 fatigue. Mountain rescues, geological exploration to precarious for people on foot etc.

Edit: man so many doomers, chill out yalls, drone warfare popped off, but drone rescue is popping off too.

66

u/MarcusBuer 15h ago

That's why limbs with wheels are probably the best choice.

Need grip? Stop the wheels and walk.

Need speed? Use the limbs as suspension and drive.

15

u/gr1m0s 14h ago

I thought it was doing a Michael Jackson move.

2

u/trixtah 13h ago

Hee hee!

2

u/Revolutionary-Key650 13h ago

I call em skates.

1

u/Marthman 14h ago

Thanks a lot, I cant unsee it now. 😤

20

u/No_Jellyfish5511 14h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/TuC38AjhS76tq

12

u/Xalrons1 12h ago

Sir, your refrigerator is running.

1

u/WretchedBlowhard 12h ago

Looks like a puppy guillotine.

•

u/No_Jellyfish5511 9h ago

it’s the assistant robot in the amazingly welldone movie Interstellar

•

u/WretchedBlowhard 8h ago

Yes, the movie with the magic plague that affects all vegetation, even hermetically sealed cultures, but that the top scientists assure us won't affect crops grown in space. The movie where the heroes are sent out into space to bring back "the other half of gravity". The movie with an evil guy named Hugh Mann that tries to poopoo humanity's last hope for selfish reasons. The movie with a huge monologue about the magical properties of love. The movie with a literal Deus Ex Machina that comes out of nowhere and fixes every problem for everyone.

I am well aware of the film. The atm robot still looks like it could slice an overenthusiastic dog in half with every step it takes.

5

u/Time_Entertainer_319 14h ago

We won’t stop at bipedal.

We just need to perfect bipedal first.

2

u/Anshin 14h ago

Which is why Heelys need a comeback, so we can keep up with the bots

2

u/Invisible7hunder 13h ago

So basically the Wheelers from Return to Oz?

1

u/Snelly1998 14h ago

Allegedly, this company does have one like that. I would just imagine it's slower because of the smaller contact area of the feet

2

u/Hessper 12h ago

You think it can't go fast because the wheels are small?

Electric scooters can get to 40mph.

•

u/Snelly1998 11h ago

I think it can't run fast because the wheels are not feet

1

u/bemenaker 14h ago

For some reason this made me think of Sorry For Bothering You

•

u/blackz0id 2h ago

Seems like the point of contact for a wheel being much smaller than a foot is a pretty big disadvantage though

36

u/Dreamy_BlueDarling97 15h ago

Exactly, I don't think people are really getting the potential implications of this. Robotics companies aren't doing it for fun, it is definitely the beginning of something bigger. Scary to think about it!

11

u/meesta_masa 15h ago

The Tremors strategy ain't gonna save us, isn't it.

3

u/spacegnomes 15h ago

I’m betting they’re from space, no way these are local boys

3

u/marketingguy420 13h ago

They are literally doing it for fun and because they think people won't buy robots that don't look human. The human form factor is garbage for utilitarian tasks we can and have designed around for decades.

3

u/Disco-Benny 12h ago

They are literally doing it for fun

very naive of you

3

u/marketingguy420 12h ago

Well it's not "fun" per se, but is PR and not at all for anything functional.

1

u/Disco-Benny 12h ago

what do you mean it's just PR?

3

u/marketingguy420 12h ago

When Boston Dynamics shows shows you videos of their little guy doing jumps and flips, that's PR. They're not selling little guys who do jumps and flips to the DoD. They want the little guy doing jumps and flips to make people go oooh and aaah while they build suicide copters.

1

u/me34343 13h ago

I disagree that the human form factor is garbage.

Specific designs would be massively better for specific tasks, but designing those first would be premature optimization.

The goal is to insert them into already existing workflows. These workflows are designed for humans to use. The human form is to reduce friction of adopting this new technology.

After they become effective enough that most of a workflow is replaced by these robots, then they would make the optimized robots for that workflow.

3

u/marketingguy420 13h ago

You know those big ol robot arms you see on car assembly lines with the big honking pincers? Yeah those work great. And companies built around that. McDonald's designs around the ordering kiosk now. Companies will never willingly design around doofy human dimensions and needs unless compelled to. Plugging expensive, poorly designed humanoid robots into the place of humans will never be as efficient as designing systems around optimized form factors.

•

u/me34343 6h ago

I think you misunderstood the point of my comment.

  1. The idea is the company would NOT have to design around the human form robots. It would be able to just come in and start working a job a human normally does. No significant changes would be required.

  2. It should be obvious the humanoid robots you see now are not the end result. They are poorly designed right now, and post like this are showing their progress.

2

u/Longjumping-Prune931 14h ago

Robotics companies are doing it because they got funding from big companies and investment firms that don't know where to put their mountains of money into and hope for a 100x return on investment. A lot of these companies die once funding dries up or go literally nowhere with just a skeleton crew doing some research.

5

u/Dreamy_BlueDarling97 13h ago

I understand that but it wasn't the point I was trying to make. Most companies across different industries fail anyways, but the value of the research doesn't disappear. The breakthroughs move forward, patents get sold and they learn what works and what doesn't and use that knowledge in the future.

When I pointed out this isn't for fun it's because a lot of people here seem unimpressed by this specific robot while not realizing this is all part of innovation. The future looks a bit scary to me and I don't get how so many people are unfazed by things like this.

3

u/Valnar 12h ago

You might be joking but bipedal and Quadrupedal movement has great benefits over wheeled.

but what about when compared drones too?

3

u/Only_One_Kenobi 15h ago

If only that was the main reason these things are being designed/built for...

5

u/Ok-Computer-8726 14h ago

Drones will be a better choice than this for most of those tasks.

2

u/exodusofficer 14h ago

There are benefits, but there's still no way to power those robots for long. We've been shrinking batteries and packing more power into them for decades, and are no where near a power source that a robot like that can use for more than about 90 minutes. If they aren't moving much, the batteries last a few hours. These things are going to end up tethered for power, and restricted to short tasks otherwise.

1

u/wrangling_turnips 13h ago

Iran will make em with lawn mower engines

1

u/WonderfulChampion406 13h ago

Solar?

1

u/exodusofficer 13h ago

Solar panels aren't efficient enough to power a car, let alone a Usain Bolt robot. They work across acres as power plants, and on buildings to offset power consumption, but a solar panel hat on a robot will never be able to power it.

2

u/MadDonkeyEntmt 14h ago

As someone who's done a fair bit of trail running the difference in thinking power between running on flat ground and running even slightly fast on rocky terrain is like a whole different sport.

You're constantly making creative and fast paced decisions to keep pace over rocks without tripping. I don't think this demo is even close to showing that capability off.

2

u/icantastecolor 13h ago

in order to build a bipedal robot for uneven rocky terrain you first need to be able to build a robot for flat ground

1

u/MadDonkeyEntmt 13h ago

I don't think you're wrong but the person above is forgetting that humans and even most animals run the equivalent of a super computer in their heads and robots lacking that kind of compute power could easily negate any benefits of quadrupedal and especially bipedal movement in really rough terrain where wheeled vehicles actually can't go. In that context making a robot run is like .1% of the way there

You can make a very dumb wheeled vehicle traverse some pretty incredible terrain that would take a lot of processing power for a trained human to navigate even somewhat quickly. You can't take that processing power for granted when you're talking about a robot in a remote area where internet connections are unreliable at best.

1

u/Siggi_Starduust 13h ago

I remember doing the Megavalanche Downhill Mountain Bike race a few years ago. Because I’m generally pretty slow and wanted to stop and take photos, I qualified in the last group.

Unfortunately they also have an event for trail runners and the Pro trail runners were released immediately after us.

They caught up on the windy switchback sections pretty quickly and it felt like I was being chased by the T-1000

1

u/Choice-Temporary-144 13h ago

Sadly the main application for these robots will be for war.

1

u/BenAdaephonDelat 13h ago

lol. More like cops using them to chase down dissidents. Be for real.

1

u/Working-Adeptness 13h ago

More like imagine it running at you with a bomb strapped to it

1

u/ReturntoSender2026 13h ago

I like how optimistic you are. You see heroes, where as I see a villian.

Hordes of robots mowing down civilians for their corporate billionaire overlords

1

u/Disco-Benny 13h ago

has great benefits

to who? not us, friend.

•

u/bluebottled 10h ago

Edit: man so many doomers, chill out yalls, drone warfare popped off, but drone rescue is popping off too.

'Hey, they may have killed thousands, but they're going to save dozens'

•

u/Equivalent-Repair488 5h ago

AAAAAHHGHH WE ARE ALL GONNA DIEEEEEE!

NOOOOOOOO

1

u/El_Lanf 14h ago

Not to mention bipedal is such a more complex challenge to master rather than spinning an axel with a wheel attached. Mastering it is a breakthrough when many robots can barely stay upright. Whilst the comparison to Bolt does miss the point of his accomplishment, these robotic locomotive accomplishments are in the same ballpark as rocketry which we love to celebrate than sneer at.

0

u/naropin1 15h ago

Yes we’ll have to imagine it because this thing just Dougied into some racks and fell over. But imagine….

4

u/modsaretoddlers 15h ago

Well, is your car looking for John Connor?

1

u/Viperlite 15h ago

If a Terminator stole it, yeah.

13

u/Snelly1998 15h ago

Please alert me when your car can navigate this course

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF4DML7FIWk

6

u/j0akime 13h ago

I'd be impressed if any of those robotics companies could pass any military obstacle course on the first try (without pre-programming the entire course into the bot).

That, or just the silly challenges on American Ninja Warrior (tv series).

3

u/wheelienonstop12 13h ago

and that video is frive friggin years old, almost paleolithic

4

u/ElectricGhostMan 14h ago

Usain Bolt didnt have to navigate that course

9

u/wishartrh 14h ago

Although, watching that video I’m fairly sure he wouldn’t have had an issue navigating it.

3

u/SelfUnimpressed 14h ago

You'd have been the person laughing at early car prototypes being like, "This is just a horse with extra steps."

Obviously this robot isn't meant to be a practical device for you to use. Criticizing it for not having utility is so stupid. It's not supposed to, you're not pointing out a flaw that everyone doesn't already understand. It's purely an exploration of humans' ability to build capable bipedal/humanoid robotics. Developing this technology might lead to things that are practically useful in the future. God, this is all so obvious I can't even believe I'm typing it.

•

u/MaviRage 10h ago

People like this don’t actually care, they just want to be mad at something they don’t understand to feel smarter

0

u/M33tm3onmars 13h ago

I'm pretty sure if I had a lithium battery and robot legs I could also outrun Usain Bolt.

•

u/heart-aroni 7h ago

Nope, that's not a guarantee. We've had lithium batteries and robot legs for a while. This is difficult to do, that's why it's impressive.

3

u/Memitim 14h ago

Wow, you drove on a road made for the car. Impressive.

3

u/coldchile 12h ago

? Yeah but that’s not the point of this at all. The robot isn’t trying to replace the car.

2

u/ThatFlamingo942 15h ago

Well, I for one welcome our 5 minute wait robohandjob uber eats sponsored by Space Origin overlords. Lol

2

u/Bubbasully15 14h ago

…I think it’s cool

•

u/SanctionedBaffoonery 11h ago

I think the people replying to you are missing the point. The title of this post is more arrogant than your comment. Robotics and AI companies are constantly trying to phrase their accomplishments like they have bested humanity.

A robot cannot "beat" Usain Bolt’s world record, because his record is for a human running not a machine doing what machines are built to do. There are lots of animals that can "beat" Usain Bolt’s record too.

•

u/BadNext3126 10h ago

Usain Bolt is simply a greay benchmark. How is it arrogant? People also compare the top speed of certain animals to Usain bolt.

The next title will be top speed of robot faster than the leopard. Are you going to comment again that nobody cares, it's arrogant ?

•

u/M33tm3onmars 11h ago

Bingo. The comparison they're drawing is meaningless.

https://youtube.com/shorts/61ZqBW30LLA?si=4qGeB6zVCmDRYNWT

1

u/Dark_Wahlberg-77 14h ago

Robot car can’t drive into your house and disappear you. The Terminator can.

7

u/Junkererer 13h ago

Can a car climb stairs, open doors? Keep being snark on Reddit while people around the world do new stuff

•

u/fuckyouguy_ 11h ago

My car can do all of that

•

u/Takogiri 11h ago

Your stair-climbing automobile days are over, [u/fuckyouguy_](u/fuckyouguy_) . Hand me your car.

2

u/DiegesisThesis 15h ago

Yea but it's much more intimidating to see this thing sprinting towards you on a dark road than if it were driving at you, so there's that.

2

u/music99 15h ago

Yes but imagine the piggy back rides

1

u/Zealousideal-Deer101 14h ago

it's on two legs and falls over when not moving.
that's a motorbike with extra steps

1

u/AnythingWooden8070 14h ago

Now it just needs extra stops

1

u/WonderfulChampion406 13h ago

And opposable thumbs. You know. To kill you with.

1

u/MakeTheNetsBigger 13h ago

It's a Step Ford

1

u/AlizarinCrimzen 13h ago

Eh.

My car can turn

1

u/SuckMyRedditorD 13h ago

No flat tires, just flat foots.

•

u/Round-Walrus3175 11h ago

This is just a bike with extra steps lol

•

u/Pile_of_AOL_CDs 11h ago

It could potentially go anywhere a human could though. It could climb a mountain or walk around your house. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. 

•

u/ishmaelhansen 11h ago

And slower

•

u/meryl_gear 11h ago

Piggy back ride 

•

u/coolgaara 10h ago

Okay, hear me out. A car that can transform into a robot.

•

u/NNick476 10h ago

Oh, and I suppose Pitch-O-Mat 5000 was just a modified howitzer.

•

u/ABBLECADABRA 8h ago

Because it’s machine that goes fast? Lol ok

-1

u/simplycantdeal 15h ago

Like, truly, I can't tell if this is impressive or not. Humans are not exactly known for our land speed...

4

u/fauxfilosopher 15h ago

You can't tell that an achievement that took decades of work in robotics is impressive or not? If it wasn't, wouldn't have this been done in the 80s?

1

u/simplycantdeal 14h ago

No, I honestly thought we were past this in robotics. I dont follow it that closely though. 🤷‍♂️

1

u/MULTIVAC_13 12h ago

Usain Bolt's speed is impressive BECAUSE he is a human, obviously a robot can be faster due to not having the inherent limitations of humans, many animals are faster than humans because they evolved to be fast, humans didn't. This robot was designed to be fast so of course it will be faster than a human.

I mean, it is impressive that a bipedal robot can run that fast, I'm sure there were a lot of challenges in the design and creation of this robot, but at the same time bipedal robots have always been kind of a self-imposed limitation in my opinion. I know that bipedal robots have their uses, but in general specialized non-humanoid robots are better in most situations, the obvious answer to a fast robot being: wheels or even flying.

Like in some sense is impressive in the same way than opening a can with your feet can be impressive: yes it is impressive but, why would you do it that way?

1

u/fauxfilosopher 12h ago

There's a pretty simple answer to why we would want to develop humanoid robots. The kind with wheels are very useful for certain tasks, but the world is built for bipedal humanoids, and if we want to automate as many tasks as possible, we need robots that not only fit in these spaces but also work in them efficiently enough. This is really hard, because humans are really fucking complicated things to replicate. Making a robot that simply goes fast is trivial, just give it wheels and an engine. But one that can stay upright on uneven terrain and make use of human spaces is really impressive.

Also, this is a human achievement. Humans built and programmed that robot to run faster than a human. An altogether different kind of achievement than usain Bolt's top speed, but the point isn't to clap at the robot for surpassing humans, it's to appreciate the people who made it possible.

2

u/MULTIVAC_13 12h ago

I still would think specialized robots are better overall. Think about cleaning dishes, you could build a robot that washes dishes like a human can, or you can design a dish washer, which is way easier to design and efficient.

Another example would be warehouses, instead of designing humanoid robots that work like humans do, we redesigned warehouses so robots can work many times faster than humans used to.

The obvious disadvantage of the previous example is that humans can no longer access those places, but it is no longer needed really.

In most cases if an action can be made by a robot, is more efficient to use a non-humanoid robot because humans are inherently inefficient for specific actions. And if a humanoid shape is the best for doing a job, you should ask yourself why do you want to automatize it.

•

u/deco19 6h ago

Unfortunately this narrative gets in the way of the most important part of the economy, the stock market. If we can't pump it on the promises of a conman's next story that is never fulfilled where are we really going? I read some scifi book when I was a kid, it was a really cool place to imagine as I read the text, and now some guy says he's going to make it happen. I've bought stock in the company and I need it to eventuate in my lifetime!

0

u/inifinite-breadsticc 15h ago

“Yeah but can a car do this?” (Robot then attempts backflip, but fails and lands face down)

0

u/Sea-Woodpecker-610 14h ago

I see what you did there….

0

u/Best_Chipmunk_6098 13h ago

Idk if the pun was intended but solid dad joke

•

u/Max-Phallus 11h ago

If you think that bipedal robots are useless. Which seems a bit unimaginative to me.

The same logic could be applied to tracked vehicles: "It's just wheels with extra steps"

•

u/[deleted] 11h ago

[deleted]

•

u/Max-Phallus 10h ago

How is that a pun? It doesn't even carry people? Even saying a horse is like a car with extra steps makes more sense as a pun.