The Chinese created the fastest robot in the world: the magic of sneakers helped

The Chinese company Robot Era demonstrated humanoid robots that can reach speeds of up to 3.6 m/s (12.96 km/h)

A humanoid in running sneakers set a speed record among robots – 12.96 km/h. The model was called Star1. It was developed by the company Robot Era. The robot was equipped with artificial intelligence and sensors that help process the information received from the environment and adapt to landscapes and terrain.

The height of the robot is 1.71 meters, and the weight is 65 kilograms. The upper part of the “body” remains with a straight back, while the legs of the robot move alternately parallel to each other. The presentation took place at the end of September 2024 in the Chinese Gobi desert. This was reported by the publication NewAtlas with reference to Robot Era. The robot, which was put on running shoes, was able to outrun its rival robot. Although the exhibit started later in sneakers, thanks to the shoes it gained a record speed – almost 13 km/h and moved for 34 minutes.

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“Trained by a neural network, STAR1 quickly learns new skills and adapts to different tasks. This versatility allows it to switch between three gait modes – running, walking and jumping – on different surfaces, including roads, grass, deserts and uneven surfaces.” , – stated in Robot Era.

Robot Era explains that controlling the robot's limbs and dynamic center of gravity is essential to enable autonomous movement over rough terrain. 

“To move over soft or uneven surfaces, such as those , found in the Danxia (Geopark in China) terrain, requires flexible adaptive joints that can absorb shocks and adjust to surface irregularities. Conversely, movement on hard road surfaces requires greater joint control for stability, requiring the robot to adjust stiffness or the flexibility of your joints to move smoothly and prevent falls,” — noted in Robot Era.  

Thanks to the built-in artificial intelligence model, Star1 supports both theoretical learning and practical learning by processing the received information. Robot Era reports that this test run is intended to highlight the robot's adaptability to real natural environments. As part of the mission, the company wants to introduce AI-based general-purpose humanoids into households and workplaces.