Humanoid robots showcase combat skills ahead of world’s first robot boxing match in Hangzhou

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

Protesters took to the streets of the Venezuelan capital Caracas on Wednesday, urging the United States to release Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.

The U.S. launched a military strike on Venezuela on Jan. 3, forcibly taking the South American country's president and his wife and placing them in custody in New York, an action that has drawn worldwide condemnation and concern.

"We insist on taking to the streets. All social movements and all political forces are defending the homeland. We will continue protesting and demand that the U.S. empire return our commander, our president," said protester Roni Campero.

"Everyone here voted for Maduro. We want him to return home safely," said protester Esperanza Olavarria.

The demonstrators said they believe U.S. efforts to destabilize the country will fail.

"The United States wants a civil war to happen here, but it hasn't succeeded. We are still standing firm and will continue fighting to the end," said protester Maria Hinojosa.

Venezuelans rally in Caracas, demand US release President Maduro