Scientists have unveiled a new humanoid robot that can run at a top speed of over 8 miles per hour (mph), or 3.6 meters per second (m/s), making it the fastest of its kind. However, this speed was achieved with the aid of specialized footwear.
Named STAR1, the robot was developed by the Chinese company Robot Era. Standing at 5 feet 7 inches (171 centimeters) tall and weighing 143 pounds (65 kilograms), STAR1 is a bipedal machine designed for high-performance movement.
In a promotional video, two STAR1 robots raced in the Gobi Desert, northwestern China. One of the robots was equipped with sneakers to test if footwear could enhance its running speed. Powered by high-torque motors and advanced artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, the sneaker-wearing robot traversed various terrains—grasslands, gravel, paved roads, and earth—while maintaining a top speed for 34 minutes.
With a speed of 8 mph, STAR1 surpassed the previous record set by Unitree's H1 robot, which reached 7.4 mph (3.3 m/s) in March 2024. It's worth noting that while STAR1 had footwear assistance, H1’s record wasn't considered true running since both feet never left the ground simultaneously during its motion.
STAR1 is equipped with powerful AI hardware capable of processing 275 trillion operations per second (TOPS), far exceeding the typical 45 to 55 TOPS found in high-end laptops. Additionally, the robot boasts 12 degrees of freedom, indicating its ability to move with a high degree of flexibility through multiple joints.
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