This Humanoid Robot Just Scored A Guinness World Record

The world of robotics is at an inflection point right now and China's AI robots are shocking the world with their humanoid characteristics. On one hand, we have robots fumbling at marathons and face-planting on stage. At the same time, we have humanoid robots performing parkour and border patrol duties. Several companies are racing to accomplish "firsts" with this technology, and one such record has just been claimed by China's AgiBot. 

The Shanghai-based company's AgiBot A2 robot has set a Guinness World Record for the longest journey walked by a humanoid robot. The robot walked 66.04 miles (or 106.286 kilometers) continuously to reach the milestone. "This GWR challenge walking over 100 km undoubtedly marks a significant breakthrough for the AgiBot A2 robot," according to the Guinness website.

In a video shared by the company, Agibot notes that the A2 robot walked from Jinji Lake in Suzhou to the North Bund in Shanghai, a journey that spanned a day and night travel schedule. The robot covered everything from urban locales and highways to bridges and empty sidewalks. The robot, which has blinking eyes on its face courtesy of a visor-style display, walked continuously without any shutdowns. The achievement is remarkable because merely a few weeks ago, nearly 70% of robots running a half-marathon alongside humans failed to finish the race. Some ran out of juice, a few overheated, and others simply failed to manage their gait autonomously. The Agibot A2, on the other hand, walked a distance that's over twice the length of a standard marathon.

Agibot has developed the A2 to serve a variety of tasks. As far as interactions go, it relies on what the company calls ActionGPT, a multi-modal AI system that comes with text, vision, and speech capabilities. According to the company, it is suited for tasks like presenting in exhibition halls, desk reception, and customer service. Rocking a dual-tone black-and-silver look, the humanoid robot tips the scales at about 152 pounds and stands at roughly 5.5 feet tall. The 700Wh battery pack fitted on its back is swappable, and a full charge allows two hours of continuous operation. Notably, the engineering of the A2 robot is modular, which means it can be customized for specific tasks and workplaces. 

The company touts L4-level autonomous mobility for the A2, claiming that it can adjust itself to dynamic environments with minimal drift and operational latency. For environmental awareness and sensing, there are six cameras and LiDAR fitted on the body for full 360-degree vision. It can also be operated remotely, even with a smartphone. A customized version of the robot, called the A2-W, is already being deployed across car part factories owned by Fulin Precision to handle chores such as moving materials. 

The overarching idea is to handle repetitive tasks so that human workers can focus on other creative or higher-value work. The record-setting A2 is already listed for sale on China's JD shopping platform. The A2 Youth Edition is currently going for the equivalent of $27,000, which falls in roughly the same price ballpark as Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot.