Incredible video shows Chinese four-wheeled robodog climb walls and stairs with ease – it can even do handstands
A CHINESE robodog has received an all-terrain upgrade that allows it to not only climb stairs with ease – but traverse up walls too.
Unitree, a robotics company based out of Hangzhou, recently unveiled the Go2-W quadruped – the latest in its range of robots.
The video above pits the Go2-W machine against its predecessor: a smaller, four-legged robodog.
The Go2-W is not only larger, but most notably, has four wheels instead of rubber trotters.
The wheels allow it to run down skate boarding ramps, as well as hop over gates and out of car boots without falling flat on its robo face.
While the wheels turn, the robot also uses it legs to walk forward, giving it an obvious leg-up against its predecessor.
It can reach speeds of up to 5.6mph.
The 70cm-tall robot can even do a handstand.
The wheels can be locked so the robodog can walk in the traditional way, which is needed to climb stairs and perform some of more acrobatic maneuvers.
The Go2-W is kitted out with a 15,000mAh battery that can last for up to four hours of exploring per charge, according to Unitree.
The robot’s eyes are made up of several wide-angle cameras and super-wide-angle Lidar, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging.
While its brain features octa-core processing, and Wi-Fi, 4G and Bluetooth wireless connectivity.
Weighing 18kg, the machine can carry a payload of around 3kg.
The Go2-W is not yet officially on the market.
It’s price and when its going on sale are still unknown.
That being said, prices for Unitree robots range from $1,600 (£1,250) to $14,900 (£11,650).
Robo wars
The use case for these types of robots for the average consumer is unclear – they could be bag carriers for the wealthy or perhaps replace home security systems.
However, they have caught the eye of military bodies in both China and the US.
In May, China had a test run with robot dogs equipped with machine guns on their back.
The machine gun robodogs went through drills for a 15-day exercise called Golden Dragon with Chinese and Cambodian troops.
The US Marines have also been testing a similar robot dog with a an AI-targeting rifle attached to it for “fifth generation” warfare.