Unitree Robotics, a key contender in an upcoming robot combat competition, brought its cutting-edge humanoid robots to a school in east China's Hangzhou City on Wednesday, offering a live demonstration of their capabilities and a hands-on science and technology lesson for students.
The visit served as a performance test for the robots ahead of the highly anticipated world’s first-ever robot boxing match, which is part of the China Media Group (CMG) World Robotics Skills Competition. The event will take place this Sunday in Hangzhou and be livestreamed globally by China Media Group (CMG).
The students marveled at the fine movements of the robots such as straight punches, hook punches, sidekicks, aerial spin kicks and even getting up from the ground after falling.
"It's incredible. Now I really want to know how these robots can fight with each other," said Ni Zhangyao, a student watching the robot test match at Hangzhou Qian Xuesen School.
Unitree Robotics attributed its robots’ agility to advancements in core technologies, especially algorithmic breakthroughs. Wednesday’s demonstration served as a test run for the G1 robots’ formal debut on May 25, featuring motion-capture punches, knockdowns, and recoveries.
"The robots fight in a human-machine collaborative way. We have three ways of controlling them. The most common way is that the controller uses a simple controller to control the robot's movements. We will reveal two other newly-developed control modes on the match [on Sunday]. You will see how they go by that time," said Chu Yang, a marketing team member of the Unitree Robotics.
The Unitree humanoid robots also tested their endurance at the school by complete a 40-minute jogging on the basketball court, which drew enthusiastic cheers from students.
Humanoid robots showcase combat skills ahead of world’s first robot boxing match in Hangzhou
Hundreds of Japanese residents gathered in front of the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on Thursday evening, demanding that Sanae Takaichi retract her recent erroneous remarks regarding China's Taiwan region.
At a Diet meeting on Nov. 7, Takaichi claimed that the Chinese mainland's "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan and implied the possibility of armed intervention in the Taiwan Strait, which has immediately drawn strong criticism at home and abroad.
Holding placards and banners that read "Against war" and "Takaichi resign", the protesters chanted "We don't want a prime minister who incites war! Takaichi, withdraw your remarks immediately! The Takaichi administration must step down now!"
"Stop military expansion! Stop missile deployment immediately!" the protesters also shouted.
"What exactly is Takaichi thinking? Isn't she pushing Japan into war? I believe she must retract her statements immediately. From a diplomatic perspective, as a member of Japan's Diet, she utterly lacks basic common sense. As a Japanese citizen, I truly find her behavior shameful," said a protester.
Takaichi's provocative remarks regrading Taiwan has constituted a serious challenge to Japan's pacifist constitution and its legal obligations as a defeated country in World War II, said the protesters.
"Japan inflicted tremendous harm on Asian countries during the Asia-Pacific War [of World War II]. That is precisely why we pledged 'Never again to wage war, never again to possess weapons,' and established the crucial Article 9 of our Constitution. Therefore, we absolutely cannot accept Takaichi's provocative remarks against China," said another protester.
The Constitution of Japan was enacted in 1947 and is known as the pacifist postwar constitution. The cornerstone of the constitution is Article 9, which renounces the nation's right to engage in war or to resort to military force to resolve international conflicts.
For decades, this article has been a fundamental constraint on Japan's military endeavors.
"Japan has the pacifist constitution and must absolutely not head towards war. We must return to this fundamental principle. Takaichi must immediately stop and retract her remarks. She must apologize, resign and take responsibility for the mistake," said a Japanese protester.
Japanese residents rally, urging PM to retract erroneous remarks regarding China's Taiwan
