Tag: Unitree

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Unitree Launches Humanoid Robot R1

The Chinese manufacturer Unitree announced a new bipedal humanoid robot, the R1, on LinkedIn on July 25, 2025. Weighing around 25 kilograms, it is lighter than its predecessor, the G1 (35 kilograms), and significantly more affordable. The starting price is 39,900 yuan (approximately 5,566 USD), compared to 99,000 yuan for the G1. The R1 uses a Multimodal Large Language Model (MLLM) that combines speech and image processing. Equipped with highly flexible limbs – including six dual-axis leg joints, a movable waist, two arms, and a mobile head – it offers a wide range of motion. Unitree positions the R1 as an open platform for developers and researchers. The goal is to make humanoid robots more accessible to a broader market through lower costs and modular technology. In addition to bipedal robots, the company has also been offering quadrupedal robots for several years, such as the Unitree Go1 and Unitree Go2 (Image: ChatGPT/4o Image).

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This Robot Could Spy on You

As reported by the CyberInsider platform on March 24, 2025, security experts have discovered a pre-installed, undocumented remote access tunnel in the Unitree Go1 robot dogs that enables remote control and network access. The Unitree Go1 can be found in numerous companies and universities. During their tests, the researchers were able to list all connected devices and their IP addresses and access these devices. They were also able to use the robotic quadruped’s cameras for live monitoring. The article states: “Perhaps most concerning is the implication of deliberate design. The tunnel is not merely an over-looked debug utility; it appears fully integrated into the boot process and enabled by default.” (CyberInsider, 24 March 2025) Users should immediately isolate their devices from critical internal networks, change SSH credentials, and disable the tunnel service. More information is available on the platform.

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A New Inhabitant in the SRL

Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel’s privately funded Social Robots Lab (SRL) has been home to the Unitree Go2 since December 2023. It goes by the name Bao (Chinese for “jewel” or “treasure”). Heise writes in an article: “The basic model of the Go2 is equipped with a lidar on the head, which has a hemispherical field of view of 90 degrees vertically and 360 degrees horizontally. The minimum range of the lidar is around 5 cm. This enables the robot to navigate independently in the terrain, recognize obstacles and also avoid them. The robot runs at a speed of up to 2.5 m/s and is extremely agile. … A 2-megapixel camera is also on board, which can be used to take snapshots and videos.” (Heise News, July 27, 2023; own translation) The information systems specialist and technology philosopher is keen to make progress in the field of animal-machine interaction. He defined this field of work in 2013 in his article “Considerations about the Relationship between Animal and Machine Ethics“, based on the concept of animal-computer interaction pioneered by Clara Mancini. Since then, he has developed several artifacts and concepts in this area, including Robocar (modeling for animal-friendly cars), LADYBIRD (prototype of an insect-friendly vacuum cleaner robot), HAPPY HEDGEHOG (prototype of a hedgehog-friendly vacuum cleaner robot), and ANIFACE (concept for a system with facial recognition to identify brown bears). Bao will be used to test the reactions of domestic, farm, and wild animals. The aim is to make robots not only human-friendly, but also animal-friendly (Photo: Frank Graef).