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A Chinese company on Oct. 16 unveiled a four-legged robot for consumers in Hangzhou, eastern China’s Zhejiang province, vowing to make robots more accessible to the ordinary people.
The robot, “Laikago,” weighs 22 kilograms and can power-up instantly up to a maximum of 18 kilowatts. It can run for 2-3 hours after a full charge, according to the Hangzhou-based company Unitree.
The robot was immediately criticized for looking similar to Boston Dynamics’ classic quadruped robot “Bigdog.” In response, Unitree Founder Wang Xingxing told People’s Daily Online that “Laikago” was a follow-up research project that built on his four-legged “Xdog” project at university in 2014, both of which used an electric drive system before the US-based company released its electrically-driven versions.
“We want to make Laikago available to ordinary consumers. Ideally, everyone can have their own robot,” Wang said, adding that he wishes to realize this dream before 2020.
“Laikago” is priced at around $20-30,000 for its developer and general editions. Currently, the robot has been sold to some universities, research labs, and companies for research purposes, Wang said.