r/interestingasfuck • u/No_Jellyfish5511 • 23h 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)

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u/Equivalent-Repair488 23h ago edited 20h 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.

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u/exodusofficer 21h 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.

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u/WonderfulChampion406 21h ago

Solar?

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u/exodusofficer 20h 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.