Meet the cheap version of Tesla Optimus robot at $16k

Tesla is working on an Optimus humanoid robot and it will soon be released for customers but there’s a cheap version that is already on sale.

China-based Unitree Robotics has announced a new Unitree G1 humanoid agent with a unique design but quite similar to the Tesla Optimus even though it’s not the same. You got that point, right?

Looking at its parameters, the G1 robot comes with a 3-finger force control dexterous hand. It supports the optional installation of tactile sensor arrays. The robot has a 47kg weight and 127 cm (4.1 ft) height. It has 120 n.m. maximum joint torque.

Looking at the composition, the bot is using 3D Lidar, depth camera. It equips 23 degrees of joint freedom including 6 single legs, 1 waist, and 5 single arms.

There are two versions available of this cheap Tesla Optimus robot version from Unitree including G1 and G1 Education. Its arm can take up to 3kkg of maximum load. It has basic computing power coming from an 8-core CPU. For connectivity, the robot takes power from WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2.

This bot runs with a 9000mAh battery, 2 hours of runtime with quick-release functionality, and a 270W charger. The G1 model costs $16,000 and customers who want to buy the Education version will have to contact Unitree’s sales representative.

Demonstrations

Nearly two minutes of introduction video has shown the robot doing some maneuvers and these are quite fancy if you can tell. The bot could boot up from zero while lying flat on the ground.

It has creepy footsteps but free movement as it could walk forward and turn its body back to wave at you. The bot offers a running speed of 2 meters per second. It can maintain balance while colliding with an object pushed by a human.

It has a sleep mode letting the robot fold its arms, legs, and torso to make it convenient to carry. The bot has imitation and reinforcement learning features.

Its three object-picking fingers could break nuts and could be a Coke bottle opening at the same time. It can even fry bread in a frying pan and demonstrate finger suspension while trying to break its finger with a hammer.