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China sees accelerated humanoid robot research and development

China

China

China

China sees accelerated humanoid robot research and development

2025-02-25 17:03 Last Updated At:19:37

China is seeing steady growth of its humanoid robot market as tech startups accelerate their pace of research and development to improve the capacity of their advanced models, which have impressed the public with exceptional intelligence and agility.

The humanoid robot industry in China has been making rapid progresses over the recent years, with more and more intelligent products being rolled out by tech enterprises, boosting the rising anticipation that they will help provide greater convenience to human beings in everyday life.

In a dazzling display of innovation, China's 2025 Spring Festival Gala made history, with millions watching a batch of humanoids twirling handkerchiefs in a uniform manner.

The development team of the humanoid robots, based in east China's "tech city" Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, said the robot performers are able to run, jump and even backflip under the guidance of engineers.

Huang Jiawei, marketing director at Unitree Robotics, said the latest model of the company's humanoid robots has greater degrees of freedom (DF) and once being added with more motors, the robots can move more flexibly.

"G1 has more degrees of freedom than H1. The elementary version of G1 has 23 DF, and the latest version has 43. For example, one more motor can be added to its arms, and three DF on its waist, so that the dance movements will be smoother," said Huang.

Humanoid robots, "catalyzed" by large models, are undergoing a systemic evolution that transcends mere partial improvements to achieve holistic improvements. Huang said currently the company is working to enhance the learning capacity of their models, reducing the required time for robots to acquire new movements.

"In the long run, we hope to embed a large model that allows robots to learn simple motion control and dancing by simply watching them once. It'd be our ultimate goal," said Huang.

China sees accelerated humanoid robot research and development

China sees accelerated humanoid robot research and development

China sees accelerated humanoid robot research and development

China sees accelerated humanoid robot research and development

Iran has prepared a new law that will further tighten control over the Strait of Hormuz, including bans on Israeli-linked vessels, the Fars news agency reported on Sunday.

Mohammad Rezaei-Kouchi, chairman of the Iranian Parliament's Civil Engineering Committee, announced on Sunday that the draft law is nearing finalization.

According to details of the draft law, ships and cargoes connected to Israel would be completely prohibited from passing through the strait. Vessels from countries Iran considers hostile would require approval from the country's Supreme National Security Council.

Countries that have previously caused damage to Iran would be barred until they pay compensation.

The proposed rules would also require all vessels to pay transit fees exclusively in Iranian rials. Of the revenue collected, 30 percent would be allocated to strengthening Iran's armed forces, while 70 percent would be used to improve people's livelihood.

The moves come amid tensions between the United States and Iran escalated over the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy reimposed a blockade on the strait on Saturday, citing the U.S. failure to lift its naval blockade on Iranian ports in violation of a ceasefire commitment.

Bloomberg reported, based on shipping tracking data, at least 13 oil tankers turned back that day, and no vessels were observed transiting the strait on Sunday.

Iran has tightened control over the Strait of Horumuz since Feb 28, when it barred passage to vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States after the two countries' joint strikes on Iranian territory.

The United States later imposed its own blockade on the waterway after peace negotiations with Iran in Pakistan's Islamabad collapsed.

Iran nears approval of new law to tighten control over Strait of Hormuz: official

Iran nears approval of new law to tighten control over Strait of Hormuz: official

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