Top US-based humanoid robotics firm pivots to China-dominated all-electric tech race

Boston Dynamics announces move to quieter, more efficient robotics that are less costly to operate, and less prone to breakdowns
Chinese companies are leading industry innovators in all-electric robotics and commercialisation, expert says

Science

Zhang Tongin Beijing

Published: 11:00am, 28 Apr 2024

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One of the world’s top robotics companies has announced it will stop developing hydraulic-powered humanoid robots and instead focus on making electric motor-driven robots – a category that Chinese tech companies are increasingly dominating.

Last Wednesday, US-based firm Boston Dynamics released a video declaring that its hydraulic humanoid robot “Atlas” would be decommissioned. Known for its humanlike agility, and occasionally successful acrobatics, Atlas had captivated audiences worldwide.

The video showcased a montage of Atlas’ manoeuvres, including backflips, obstacle navigation, and dancing alongside robotic dogs. It also showed the robot’s mishaps – including a failed backflip that resulted in damaged knees.

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The next day, the company introduced a new all-electric successor to Atlas, emphasising its “real-world applications”.

While hydraulic robots have greater limb strength, their hydraulic systems are complex and slower to respond. Electric motors are lighter, more flexible, faster and cost less.

The next-generation model – also named Atlas – features individual electric motors at each joint, giving it a wider range of motion that allows it to stand up from a prone position – something hydraulic robots and humans cannot do.

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Boston Dynamics’ pivot away from the original hydraulic-powered robot to the new electric version marks a shift towards strategies Chinese companies have been pursuing for years.

Unitree Robotics, a leading Chinese robotics maker, has been building its own electric-driven robot.

Last month, the Hangzhou-based company released a video of its electric humanoid robot “H1” performing a backflip.

According to Unitree’s website, the H1’s electric drive system “provides unmatched speed, strength, mobility and flexibility in its class” and can run at up to 11.9km/h (7.4mph), making the robot the “fastest in the world”.

At the 2023 International Humanoid Locomotion Competition, held during the International IEEE Humanoid Conference 2023 in Austin, Texas, Unitree’s H1 clinched first place in the obstacle course and second in the freestyle walk, outperforming rivals like Apptronik’s Apollo from the US, and PAL Robotics’ Kangaroo from Spain.

Boston Dynamics has been a major player in humanoid robotics for more than a decade. Their products have excelled at handling a variety of heavy, irregular objects, and they continue to set the industry standards for hardware performance.

However, in the realm of humanoid robot commercialisation, China seems to have taken the lead in technological advances, according to Jizhishuo, an independent tech blogger. Electric-driven robots are quieter, more efficient, and cost less to maintain with no risk of fluid leaks.

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Chinese companies are also pioneering technological advancements in autonomous driving. For instance, while Tesla has committed to using only image sensors, Chinese firms like Nio, BYD, Xpeng, and Huawei Technologies have integrated lidar systems with cameras, leveraging multi-sensor fusion and sophisticated algorithms to improve their autonomous vehicles.

Vision-based systems are used in lower-end models, such as the Huawei Luxeed S7, mainly to reduce costs.

Japan is still a leader in production of the best motors and mechanical parts, but it is losing market share.

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As of 2023, China ranked first in the world, both in the number of humanoid robot patent applications and the number of valid patents, surpassing Japan, according to People’s Daily Online Research Institute, which cited statistics from a November 2023 Humanoid Robot Technology Patent Analysis Report.

This divergence in technological adoption has also spurred innovation among upstream suppliers. According to Tokyo-based analysis company Patent Result, since 2000, Chinese firms have filed 25,957 lidar-related patents, compared to 18,821 by US companies and 13,939 by Japanese firms.