© Xiaomi
Xiaomi has just lifted the veil on the CyberOne, an amazing humanoid robot capable of understanding human emotions. The machine is powered by an artificial intelligence that facilitates interactions with human beings. With this astonishing robot, the Chinese giant is cutting the grass under Tesla’s feet. Elon Musk’s firm is preparing to unveil a working prototype of its Optimus robot.
This Thursday August 11, 2022, Xiaomi organized a conference in Beijing (China). After lifting the veil on the long-awaited Mix Fold 2, a new folding smartphone, the Chinese group has unveiled the latest creation from Xiaomi Robotics Lab, its robotics division: the CyberOne.
The CyberOne is a human-sized humanoid robot. As Xiaomi boss Lei Jun demonstrated during the conference, the robot is able to walk and run like a human being. The company also ensures that the CyberOne can reach 3.6 km / h.
The robot is 1.77m tall, weighs 52kg and can lift up to 1.5kg with one hand. As can be seen in the presentation video, the CyberOne does not fear rain or extreme weather conditions.
On the same subject: Xiaomi launches the Mijia Glass Camera, connected glasses with instant translation
CyberOne, Xiaomi’s smart robot
Above all, the CyberOne embeds an artificial intelligence that allows it to interact with human beings. Xiaomi assures that its creation is able to understand a person’s emotions and demands. During the presentation, the machine approached Lei Jun to offer him a bouquet of flowers. After a selfie, he then left the stage.
“We have invested heavily in R&D in various fields, including software, hardware and algorithm innovation,” Lei Jun said in a press release.
To perceive the world around it in 3D, the CyberOne embeds imaging software developed by Xiaomi Robotics Lab. Thanks to this software, the robot is able to see and understand the environment around it.
“CyberOne is able to detect happiness, and even comfort the user in case of sadness,” says Xiaomi.
The Chinese firm specifies that it has developed “a semantic recognition engine of the environment” and “a vocal emotion identification engine” so that the machine can recognize “85 types of environmental sounds and 45 types of human emotions”.
The face of the CyberOne is built around a curved OLED display. This tile displays interactive information for the user to communicate with the robot in real time.
The robot is designed to simulate the movements of the human body, explains Xiaomi’s press release. The company has integrated powerful articulated motors and 13 joints with an amplitude of 21 degrees. To ensure a gait and “a natural and stable posture”, Xiaomi is again relying on an algorithm developed by its teams.
Despite these precautions, the CyberOne seems much less flexible than Atlas, the Boston Dynamics robot. The humanoid of the American firm is indeed able to make leaps and backflips with agility. We are far from the jerky and seized gait of the Xiaomi machine.
A colossal manufacturing cost
Unsurprisingly, the robot is still only a prototype. Xiaomi has no plans to market the device at this time. The company suggests that the cost of manufacturing a unit is still far too high to launch mass production. A single CyberOne costs between $89,000 and $104,000.
For the time being, it is only a technical demonstration “of the possibilities of Xiaomi’s future technological ecosystem”. Note also that Xiaomi has not highlighted the use cases of the CyberOne. Nevertheless, Lei Jun says he is convinced that intelligent robots will be “part of people’s lives in the future”.
For the record, this is not the first robot developed by Xiaomi Robotics Lab. Last summer, the Chinese company presented the CyberDog, a robot dog that looks a lot like Boston Dynamics’ mechanical quadrupeds. Mirroring the CyberOne, Xiaomi’s droid dog is powered by artificial intelligence that allows it to interact with humans. In particular, he can follow his owner, like a dog in the flesh.
Xiaomi pulls the rug out from under Tesla
By presenting the CyberOne, Xiaomi has beaten Tesla by several weeks. The American automotive group plans to present a working prototype of its Optimus robot on September 30, 2022.
Unveiled in August 2021 by Elon Musk, Tesla’s robot is very close to Xiaomi’s mechanical creature. Measuring 1.76m, it is designed to assist mankind in the toughest tasks of daily life. The Optimus should have the same artificial intelligence as Tesla’s self-driving cars.
But, unlike the Chinese firm, Tesla was content to present a concept of its humanoid robot. No functional unit had been developed at the time. We will have to wait until the end of September to be able to compare the two proposals.
Xiaomi