It’s extremely expensive, useless and clumsy, but admit it – you’d like to have it.
Until recently, having a cleaning robot was the ultimate dream of having a house straight out of science fiction movies. Later, there was a boom in humanoid machines, which was complemented by Edward Warchocki – a nice robot that runs around the streets of Poland and has already been called an influencer. So we can probably start thinking about going to a higher level, i.e. putting a giant mech in the garage. I’m not exaggerating – Unitree seriously wants to sell these, but it’s more of a proposition for wealthy robot fans. More than half a million dollars must be spent on it.
Civilian vehicle of unknown purpose
I realize that after reading “mech” you imagine a machine equipped with miniguns and jet engines, but unfortunately I have to disappoint you. The GD01 model is not yet at the level of mechs from Avatar, but in terms of design it looks quite impressive. It is about 3.4 meters high and, together with the operator, weighs up to 500 kg – although it can operate without a human at the controls.
The company behind the machine, Unitree, claims that it is the world’s first manned mech ready for mass production. The problem is that it is not entirely clear what it is actually used for. In promotional materials, he walks on various surfaces, can switch to walking on all fours and knocks over a wall made of cinder blocks. This does not say much about its potential use in industry or logistics, so it should be treated as a technological demo, or simply a curiosity – the same as the G1 model, which is the de facto popular Edward.
It’s also unknown with this man at the controls, because there are no control sticks or similar solutions visible inside the cockpit – or rather the cage. The funny thing is that in the four-legged mode, the seat does not rotate, so the person would have to look at the sky with their back to the direction of walking, which seems quite an absurd idea.
Useless? Yes, but it achieves the goal
Unitree undoubtedly wants to be remembered as a pioneering company, but the real usefulness of their machines is limited. Even the G1 model – despite its Internet popularity – will not relieve you as much as you might expect. This is not a robotic domestic help, but a moving, talking mannequin. It’s a cool tool for learning human-machine interaction, and it looks funny on TikTok, but it’s not the type of machine that will do laundry, mow the grass or unpack shopping – much less replace a human in a factory.
However, it must be admitted that Unitree knows what it is doing. The G1 model can even be purchased at Media Expert with delivery tomorrow – for over PLN 100,000. PLN, but still – and this automatically makes the company mainstream recognizable and will probably be the layman’s first choice in the future. Of course, provided that one day the average person will be able to afford a robot.
What about the price of GD01? It’s even bigger here, because Unitree wants around 650,000 for the mech. dollars, i.e. over PLN 2.5 million. Therefore, it is rather a product for an eccentric influencer who will treat it as an investment in content. I won’t be surprised if such a machine soon begins to conquer the American streamer scene.
