Weird Robots at CES: Most Memorable Moments

CES has ⁣always been a robot extravaganza, and this year’s event saw the ⁤announcement of a number of important robotics developments, including the new, production-ready debut‍ of Atlas, the humanoid from boston ⁤Dynamics.Then there were all⁤ the robots⁣ on the showroom ‍floor, where bots often serve as good marketing for the companies involved. If they don’t always give a totally accurate representation of where commercial deployment is at the ⁣moment, they do give visitors a peek at where ⁢it might be headed. And, of course, they sure are fun to look at. I spent a decent amount of time perusing the bots on display this week. Here are some of the ⁢most ‍memorable ones I⁤ encountered.

The ping pong player

The movie Marty Supreme just came out a month ago, so I guess ⁣it’s only appropriate that there was a ping-pong-playing‍ robot at this ⁤year’s⁢ convention. The Chinese ⁣ robotics firm Sharpa had rigged up a full-bodied bot⁢ to play some competitive table tennis against⁢ one of the firm’s staff. When I stopped by the Sharpa booth, the⁤ robot ⁤was losing to its human competitor, 5-9, and I would not characterize the game that was occurring as particularly fast-paced. Still, the spectacle of seeing a robot play ping pong was notable enough on its own, and I’m sure I have known some humans whose⁢ paddle skills were basically equivalent to ⁢(or⁤ slightly worse than)‍ the bot’s. A Sharpa rep⁢ told me that the company’s main product is its robotic hand,and that the full-bodied bot had been⁢ debuted at CES to demonstrate the hand’s dexterity.

The boxer

One of the exhibits that drew ⁤the largest crowds ⁤involved ⁢robots from the Chinese company EngineAI, wich is developing humanoid robots. The bots, dubbed the T800⁢ (a ⁤nod to the Terminator⁢ franchise), were in ⁤a mock boxing ring and were styled as fighting machines. That saeid, I never ⁤saw any of the bots actually hit each other. Instead, they would sort of shadowbox near each other, never actually making contact. They were also a little unpredictable. One kept walking out of the ⁤ring⁣ and into the audience, ⁢which naturally got ⁣a rise out of onlookers. at another point, one of the bots tripped over its own feet ⁢and then face-planted on the floor, where it lay for ‍awhile before it decided to get up again. So, not exactly a Mike⁤ tyson situation, but the machines still managed to evoke a spooky kind of humanoid behavior that made for high-quality entertainment.⁢ I overheard an observer quip: “That’s⁤ too much like Robocop.”

The dancer

Dancing robots ⁤have long been a staple at CES, and this ⁤year was no different. This year, the dance-move torch was carried by bots from Unitree, a major Chinese robotics manufacturer that https://www.zhipu.ai/en)
⁤ ‍ * Multi-Modal llms & robotics: Zhipu AI is known for⁣ its large language models⁢ (GLM series) and has been expanding into robotics. (https://www.zhipu.ai/en/news/zhipu-ai-launches-glm-robot-platform)
‍ * Convenience Store Demo: I ⁢found a video on YouTube‍ showing ⁢a ⁤Galbot robot ⁢operating in a convenience store setting, fulfilling ⁤orders. ([https://myoutubecom/watch?v=w-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-[https://myoutubecom/watch?v=w-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-[https://myoutubecom/watch?v=w-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-[https://myoutubecom/watch?v=w-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-q-