China launches world's first robot that can run by itself 24/7 — watch it change its own batteries in unsettling new footage
There are many weird and wonderful humanoid robots out there, but one of the most eye-catching machines launched this year can change its own battery pack — making it capable of running autonomously for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Walker S2 robot, made by the Chinese company UBTECH, is 5 foot 3 inches (162 centimeters) tall and weighs 95 pounds (43 kilograms) — making it the size and weight of a small adult.
Using a 48-volt lithium battery in a dual-battery system, the robot can walk for two hours or stand for four hours before its power runs out. The battery takes 90 minutes to fully recharge once depleted.
Its most interesting feature — which UBTECH representatives say is a world first — is that instead of relying on a human operator to remove and recharge its battery pack, the machine can perform this task entirely on its own.
In new promotional footage published July 17 on YouTube, the Walker S2 robot is seen approaching a battery charging station to swap out its battery supply. Facing away from the station, it uses its arms to remove the battery pack fitted into its back and places this into an empty slot to recharge. It then removes a fresh battery pack from the unit and inserts it into its port.
RELATED STORIES
—Watch humanlike robot with bionic muscles dangle as it twitches, shrugs and clenches its fists in creepy video
—Watch humanoid robots waltzing seamlessly with humans thanks to AI motion tracking software upgrade
—Intrepid baby-faced robot dons a jetpack for its next adventure — becoming the first humanoid robot to fly
The robot will swap out its own battery in the event that one of its batteries runs out of power. It is also capable of detecting how much power it has left and decides whether it is best to swap out one of its batteries or charge based on the priority of its tasks, company representatives said, as reported by the Chinese publication CnEVPost.
The Walker S2, which is designed to be used in settings like factories or as a human-like robot to meet and greet customers at public venues, has 20 degrees of freedom (the number of ways that joints or mechanisms can move) and is also compatible with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Solve the daily Crossword
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Tom's Guide
10 minutes ago
- Tom's Guide
Amazon buys wearable AI startup Bee, a wrist device that hears and transcribes every word you speak
As Amazon spends this year attempting to bolster its AI bonafides, the internet retail giant is reportedly acquiring Bee, a startup that makes an AI wearable for your wrist. The announcement was made by Bee CEO Maria de Lourdes Zollo on LinkedIn who wrote she "couldn't think of better partners to help us bring truly personal, agentic AI to even more customers." Amazon confirmed the acquisition in an email to Tom's Guide, though noted that the deal "isn't closed yet" and the two entities are still two companies. What is Bee? (Image credit: Bee) Bee is a recent startup that makes a $49.99 Fitbit-esque wrist device, dubbed the Bio Pioneer edition that is still in preorder and slated to launch in September. The device is meant to listen to your conversations through your day and then use AI to transcribe everything said by and around you. From there the AI agent will generate personalized summaries of your day plus reminders and suggestions in the Bee app. You can also let the Bee access your calendar, contacts, emails, location, photos and reminders to help the AI's insights and send information. With Amazon, we were told that Bee is working on a number of new features to "provide even greater control over" their devices. Sign up to get the BEST of Tom's Guide direct to your inbox. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors "We're excited to partner with the Bee team to continue inventing in this space," Amazon spokesperson Alexandra Miller said in an email. Is it any good? (Image credit: Bee) Some have tried out the device, The Verge's Victoria Song went hands on with the Bee and described it as a "glimmer of a good idea." She was skeptical that we need to record our conversations all the time and found that it confused real-life conversations with media playing in the background. Plus, there are privacy concerns around Bee, though Lourdes has said previously that Bee doesn't store any recordings. Before pre-sales opened the company emphasized that they wanted to profit via device sales and subscriptions. However, compared to the Humane AI Pin, Rabbit R1 and Friend pendant, Song did say the Bee is the "most successful AI wearable" she's tried with the cavaet that it's a very low bar. We reached out to Bee for comment on how it plans to partner with Amazon and its goals with the new partnership. They have not responded as of publication but we will update if they do. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
Android Authority
10 minutes ago
- Android Authority
YouTube's latest experiment makes comments feel more like Reddit, if that sounds like an improvement
Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR YouTube is rolling out Reddit-style comment threading to Premium subscribers on Android and iOS. The experiment has been updated so the main comment is threaded to subsequent replies. Threaded comments will remain available until August 14. YouTube's comments section is going to look a little different for Premium subscribers. The company is rolling out an experiment inspired by Reddit. Earlier this year, YouTube began testing a new threaded comment UI for Android and iOS. At the time, only a small group of users got the chance to use the threaded comment system. YouTube has now announced that it is expanding the experiment to Premium users. When the test first rolled out, it was a bit of a half-baked product compared to the way it's implemented on Reddit. However, YouTube has since improved the feature. Previously, it only connected a user's profile picture to the 'X replies' button. Now the feature has been updated, so the main comment is threaded to subsequent replies. Additionally, replies to a reply are now threaded as well. Overall, it's a change that some will appreciate and others maybe less so. As it's an experiment, it won't be around for forever. The company notes that comment threading will stick around for Premium subscribers until August 14. Just like the initial test, this experiment will only appear on Android and iOS. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Nvidia Chips Are Flowing to China Again -- What That Means for AI Adoption Trends
Key Points The U.S. government just changed its rules to allow Nvidia to ship its H2O chips to China. Most AI is still limited to large companies, and as Nvidia expands into new regions and clients, the technology will scale up and become more affordable. As the support for AI infrastructure grows, Nvidia stands to gain in the long term. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has had an almost unreal ascent over the past few years. It crossed the $1 trillion market cap threshold in 2023 and became the fifth-largest company in the world. And it has skipped over the front-runners in two years, increasing by 329%, to become the most valuable company in the world, as well as the first to reach $4 trillion in value. The stock got a further boost this week when President Donald Trump relaxed the government's stance on selling Nvidia's chips to China. Let's see why this is important for Nvidia and what it means about artificial intelligence (AI) adoption trends globally. Image source: Getty Images. Nvidia, the U.S., and China Nvidia is the premier graphics processing unit (GPU) company, making the most powerful chips for several industries. Before OpenAI changed the tech landscape with the launch of ChatGPT a few years ago, Nvidia was most known for its gaming chips. Today, its greatest growth and potential are in generative AI. Nvidia is based in California, and as a U.S. company, it's subject to government rules and guidelines. Both the Biden administration and today's Trump administration have leveraged the U.S. lead in AI in its favor and attempted to curtail some of the country's best technology outside of the U.S., specifically in China. The situation has changed several times, and from this past April until this week, the U.S. had implemented new restrictions on what chips Nvidia could export to China. In the short term, the company had to take a $4.5 billion charge on its fiscal first-quarter (ended April 27) financial statements related to its H2O chips for orders it couldn't fulfill in China. CEO Jensen Huang has been outspoken in his disagreement with these policies and how he sees this working against the U.S. in the long term. Without Nvidia's products, he believes, Chinese tech companies will figure out how to build their own AI chips and models. "General-purpose, open-source research and foundation models are the backbone of AI innovation," Huang said. "We believe that every civil model should run best on the U.S. technology stack, encouraging nations worldwide to choose America."
