HUMANOID robots could be brought to ordinary people’s homes “soon,” according to a new robotics center in Beijing.

The robots, which use AI and resemble human bodies in shape, are expected to help China advance in its technology war with the US.

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Month-old robotics center Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center has so far provided minimal details about its latest project to release a prototype humanoid robot for general use.

But it assured that the robot will be created “soon.” South China Morning Mail reports.

The machines are expected to replenish China’s shrinking workforce as the vast economy looks to upgrade its growth engines with new technology-led “productive forces.”

An unnamed source from the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center told the Beijing Youth Daily: “It is the dream of every humanoid robot company to bring humanoid robots into thousands of households.”

It comes amid China’s fierce ongoing technology war with the United States, and as China faces serious demographic challenges – including a rapidly aging population – and a real estate market crisis.

The center was reportedly established late last year and includes both private and state-owned robot manufacturers.

A source described as a “responsible person” said leading robotics industry experts and researchers at the center were seeking “a common technological platform, public service platform and regulatory standards for the humanoid robot industry.”

They added: “In the future, humanoid robots may enter the automotive industry, 3C manufacturing (computer, communications and consumer electronics) and other fields, further improving the industrial production level.”

There are fears that humanoid robots could be yet another kind of “disruptive innovation” like computers, smartphones and new energy vehicles.

But China hopes to turn the humanoid robot sector into “a major new engine of economic growth” by 2027, according to the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The center’s humanoid robots are intended to be a technological convergence of artificial intelligence and new materials, and China hopes to make the country more self-reliant – and competitive with the US.

American companies such as Tesla and OpenAI-backed Figure are already working on humanoid robots.

Tesla’s $20,000 (£16,000) Optimus robot, the prototype of which was unveiled in September 2022, was expected to be mass produced within three to five years.

According to a November report from the Research Institute of People’s Daily Online, China is currently the second-largest holder of patents on humanoid robots, with 1,699, after Japan.

The MIIT announced last year its plans to mass-produce humanoid robots by 2025 – about 500 robots per 10,000 employees.

The company believes the robots will be useful for industries such as healthcare, agriculture and logistics.

New plans suggest that China could soon replace human soldiers with robots in future war scenarios.

Advanced robotic soldiers and high-tech drones are expected to be sent to complex overseas missions within the United States next one 10 years.

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An AI humanoid robot called Figure 01 has learned to make coffee, serve food and even chat with you.

It was said that Figure 01 learned his skills just by looking at a human.

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The self-correcting humanoid watched images of a human performing simple tasks.

His skills were showcased in a promotional video released by robotics company Figure.

The clip was posted on X and explains a bit more about the AI ​​machine.

“With OpenAI, Figure 01 can now have full conversations with people,” the post said.

“OpenAI models provide high-level visual and language intelligence.

“Figure neural networks deliver fast, agile, low-level robotic actions,” the report continued.

It was then explained that everything the robot can do in the video is thanks to a neural network.

A neural network is an AI method that trains a computer to process information in a similar way to the human brain.

The robot even demonstrated its voice in the video.

However, not all viewers were impressed with the accent.

“I love this! But why did you give it the voice of a 50-year-old smoker?” one person joked.

“Why does it stutter while talking?” said another.

The robot that serves food and has a conversation is somewhat of a breakthrough for the company.

It’s impressive technology that other humanoid researchers are working on.

According to Live Science, Figure 01 shows two developments in robotics.

The first is that the robot is agile and can handle objects like a human.

Second, the video suggests that the robot is capable of natural language processing.

A HUMANOID robot called Draco 3 is being trained to perform everyday tasks and could one day do your dishes or cook for you at home.

US-based Sun took part in a training session demonstration for the robot at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas.

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Professor Luis Sentis of the University of Texas, Austin moderated the session along with three colleagues.

They revealed how teaching a humanoid can involve four methods.

The first is kinesthetic education, which involves touching the robot.

A second method involves teleoperating where a human wears technology that connects to the robot and shows it how to move.

Humanoids like Draco 3 can also learn through passive observation.

That means they use artificial intelligence to observe and learn an activity, just like a child.

Last on the list are interactive demonstrations that also help AI robots on their way to success.

The SXSW training session involved typing code into a computer to create a series of inputs that would then be uploaded to the humanoid.

It can then respond to this input and perform the task for which it has been trained.

The researchers revealed that they would like to see humanoids like Draco 3 helping out at home and chasing after the elderly.

Professor Sentis revealed how they could even help replace human jobs as the population starts to shrink.

‘In Asia and Europe the population is declining very rapidly. I was born in Spain. In half a century we will have half of the Spanish people.

“We are 50 now, but we will be 25 million,” he told a small audience.

Sentis explained that robots can also help care for an aging population when there are fewer young people.

“Robots will become nursing support, I think that will be very important.”

Humanoids like Draco 3 may have great potential, but that doesn’t mean the risk of failure is zero.

When asked if evil humanoids are a real concern, he simply replied, “Of course.”

Sentis is less concerned about home robots becoming evil, but he did warn that having a large number of robots in the military could be a cause for concern.

SCIENTISTS working on humanoid robots are genuinely concerned about the prospect of the technology being used for evil.

So says a humanoid expert who spoke to The US Sun at this week’s South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas.

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Professor Luis Sentis of the University of Texas at Austin spoke at the conference and presented his work with a robot called Draco 3.

Draco 3 is designed as a helpful AI robot that can perform menial tasks such as washing dishes and helping around the house.

Sentis isn’t necessarily concerned about Draco, but fears that similar technology could be used for the wrong reasons.

When asked if evil humanoids are a real concern, he simply replied, “Of course.”

I think warfare is the most tangible thing,” he continued.

‘War with Ukraine, Israel and Gaza has been a transformation.

“Now it is being combated by drones and that is not going back.

“In future wars, the armies of the future will have millions of drones, because the infantry.

“You know, we’ve lost half a million lives in Ukraine and Russia and this is terrible, and a lot is being lost in Israel.

“We will see a proliferation of machines in battle, with countries not wanting to see their infantry die.”

Sentis compared the fear of the unknown when it comes to humanoids to automatic weapons.

“This is similar to the developments we’ve seen in automatic weapons, where the argument is that it’s terrible for war because anyone can press a button and destroy the world.

‘There is the argument that this has deterred people from using them [humanoids] because there is a balance,” the expert said.

“It’s not my area of ​​expertise and I’m concerned about it,” he added.

Sentis would prefer to see humanoids used for things like helping small businesses or the elderly.

He gave the example of Draco 3 and all the positive things the humanoid is capable of.

“It’s easy to train. Can put things in boxes faster. It can move things.

“It’s very attractive to see how robots are helping small businesses, and to see how robots can control people at home.”

A US Army COLONEL has revealed a timetable for when extended humans and humanoids can be used effectively in warfare.

Colonel Troy Denomy spoke today at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas.

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“We are largely thinking about the period between 2030 and 2040,” he told an audience.

Denomy spoke as part of a panel at the Humanoids or Augmented Humans: Accelerating Autonomy with AI conference.

During the conversation, several concerns were raised about the dangers of the military using AI and robots.

“Make sure the robot works for the human and the human doesn’t work for the robot,” Denomy said.

He wants this to be the case before army robots are taken out of their testing phase.

The colonel gave an example of a recent robot test where part of the human platoon felt like the robots were in control.

“We recently did a demonstration of some robotic capabilities and we’ll do another demonstration in a few weeks,” Denomy said.

“The leaders in that platoon had about 27 remote controls hanging around their necks that attempted to control individual robots.”

Denomy and the panel agreed that menial tasks, such as using multiple remotes to operate one gadget, must be automated before the military can move forward with robotics.

“What I described with the controllers is that people demonstrably work for the robots. So we have to reverse that,” he added.

Denomy gave some examples of gadgets that are already strengthening the military, including special smartphones and modified drones.

Late last year, the Marines also tested robot dogs with the M72 rocket launcher attached.

The panel highlighted that the Ministry of Defense has signed a policy to ensure that there is always a human involved in the process somewhere when it comes to the use of AI and robotics.

Denomy emphasized the need for people to participate in the process.

“I think the time when a machine can understand ethics is still far away,” he warned.

CHILLING video has shown the world’s fastest humanoid robot sprinting at full speed.

The terrifying reality comes from Unitree Robotics, whose faceless droid H1 V3.0 Evolution will never tire of running.

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The Chinese startup, based just outside Shanghai in Hangzhou, has now broken the Guinness World Record for the fastest full-size humanoid robot.

The company wants to democratize robotics and make them as mainstream and affordable as modern devices such as drones and smartphones.

As a result, they have come up with a robot equipped with an innovative ‘drivetrain’ [that] offers the highest levels of speed, power, agility and flexibility,” according to their website.

Unitree has since released a chilling video of their robot creation reaching a linear walking speed of 12.38 km/h.

In the footage uploaded to YouTube, the improved H1 V3.0 can be seen showing off its range of dynamic movements.

It starts with a quick walk, before then exercising its arms, legs and torso as part of a choreographed dance routine.

A stunning clip also shows the robot leaping into the air and reaching the equivalent height that a human would reach.

If that’s not scary enough, the robot can also walk up and down stairs.

In addition, it can turn in either direction if it is necessary to change course or overcome obstacles.

The previous speed record for a humanoid was set by Atlas of Boston Dynamics, with its ability to move at a speed of 9.59 km/h.

But Unitree’s 6-foot-long metal frame has eclipsed that, thanks to its gear train and in-house built high-torque hinge motor.

The robot weighs 100 pounds and is also equipped with a depth camera and a 3D LiDAR sensor for vision.

There are five degrees of freedom (DOF) in the joints of the legs and four in the arms, while the hand is replaced by a padded protrusion at the end of the arm.

Perhaps scarier than his ability to run is his inability to tire.

Unlike a human, this bot can keep running without tiring, unless its power source runs out or is destroyed, of course.

This was shown in a separate video in which a Unitree engineer kicks an H1 model as it drives down the street in an attempt to get it to stop.

Yet all these attempts are in vain, because the robot always manages to restore balance after any disturbance.

Furthermore, the assistance of the 3D LIDAR means that inspection errors and time costs can be significantly reduced by automatically planning paths, avoiding collisions and performing highly accurate scans.

Unitree has unveiled their latest iteration in the humanoid robot market and, as expected, it is already in high demand.

With a base price of $90,000 (£70,887), the Chinese company has already started taking pre-orders. Interesting technology report.

However, the price range could go up to $150,000 (£118,146) if demand demands it.

Nevertheless, deliveries are scheduled for mid-2024.

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CYBERSECURITY experts have warned that popular toy robots could be compromised by hackers.

Recently, the cybersecurity company Kaspersky looked into the security of a popular toy robot model.

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The toy bot that Kaspersky looked at is typically used for educational purposes.

Kaspersky described it as “a kind of hybrid between a smartphone and tablet and a smart speaker on wheels.”

It features a large touchscreen with a control center, apps and a cartoon-like face.

In addition, there is a built-in microphone, a speaker and a wide-angle camera placed just above the screen.

And because of these features and connection to the internet, the bot can be easily hacked by threat actors.

Malicious actors can make a video call to the robot, hijack the parental account, or even upload modified firmware.

“The first thing we discovered during our research was that malicious actors could make video calls to these types of robots,” Kaspersky said.

It doesn’t stop there. The gullible system lets anyone with a robot ID retrieve a lot of personal information from the server: IP address, country of residence, child’s name, gender, age – along with parental account details the company added.

This data includes the parent’s email address, phone number, and the code that links the parental app to the robot.

These details in turn open the door to a more dangerous attack, Kaspersky noted, such as a complete hijacking of parental accounts.

“A successful attack would result in the parents losing all access to the robot, and restoring it would require contacting technical support,” Kaspersky said.

“Even then, the attacker could have repeated the whole process again, as he only needed the robot ID, which remained unchanged,” she added.

Fortunately, Kaspersky said it notified the toy’s developer and all of these vulnerabilities have since been patched.

Still, the risk remains with other smart devices, and it’s always wise to take precautions.

HOW TO STAY SAFE

Kaspersky has shared some useful tips on how to stay safe below:

• When purchasing a device, make sure you read user feedback and reviews carefully. And, if you can, review any security reports.
• To avoid being spied on or eavesdropped by your smart devices, turn them off when you are not using them and close the camera or put tape over it.
• Finally, you need to protect the devices of all your family members with a reliable security solution.

CHINA has built a tiny worm-like robot that can crawl into people’s brains – and they claim it could revolutionize surgery and save thousands of lives.

Chinese scientists claim the near-microscopic ‘microfibrebot’ can reduce the risk of brain aneurysm bleeding and ‘starve’ brain tumors, forcing them to shrink.

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The small robot would be inserted into people’s brains using a thin, flexible catheter tube.

The slightly less than half a millimeter long robot, which was shaped like a helix, would then ‘crawl’ through the brain.

Doctors would control the little bot using magnets – and the robot’s changing flexible shape could allow it to block problem blood vessels.

It could then repair aneurysms or “starve” tumors.

The bot was developed by Chinese scientists from several universities, including in Wuhan, Hefei and Shanghai.

The research and design of the robot were published in the leading journal Science Robotics.

Brain aneurysms and tumors are some of the leading causes of death worldwide.

They require extensive and complicated procedures for treatments

More than 750,000 people die every year as a result of life-threatening conditions or procedural complications.

One of the first steps doctors take to treat such diseases is to cut off blood flow by placing a thin tube in the target area and closing off the blood vessels.

However, this method is limited due to the “poor stability and controllability” of the tube inserted into the brain, the experts argued.

They said this also exposes surgeons to radiation for long periods because the procedure is performed manually under an X-ray.

We envision that our magnetic, soft microfiber bots will pave the way for the untethered robotic embolization of brain aneurysms and brain tumors in the future.

Chinese researchers

And so they believe the little robot is the best way forward for this kind of challenging work on the brain.

The small robot – barely half a millimeter in size, can change size by stretching or retracting – and can be steered up and down using magnetic fields.

The coiled form provides greater control and accuracy than other conventional methods used to treat these conditions

It can then be controlled by doctors who can track its movement using X-ray images.

Melisa Yashinski, editor-in-chief of the magazine, wrote: ‘The microfiber bot, consisting of a magnetized fiber coiled into a spiral shape, can adapt to different ship sizes and performs a corkscrew drive when exposed to an external magnetic field.

“These proposed robots provide a controllable alternative to conventional catheter-based embolization.”

Once the robot is on target, it can perform embolization to reduce bleeding from aneurysms.

And to treat brain tumors, the advanced bots can send particles into a vascular branch to “starve the tumor for accelerated removal.”

Cutting off the blood supply to a tumor causes it to stop growing – and can even shrink the tumor by killing cells, the paper said.

While testing on a ship model, the development team found that these robots had a particle blocking rate as high as 88 percent.

The robots were also tested on the hind legs of rabbits, where the robots continued to block blood flow and tests on the rabbit organs found “no inflammation or pathological abnormalities.”

Although researchers have cautioned that the robot is still in the early stages of development, they concluded that the robot has extreme potential to revolutionize brain surgery.

“We envision that our magnetic soft microfiber bots will pave the way for the untethered robotic embolization of brain aneurysms and brain tumors in the future,” the researchers said.

In a popular YouTube video, HUMANOID robots have been shown doing office work with a permanent smile.

The clip was posted by a company called 1X and demonstrates the capabilities of its EVE robots.

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“Strong enough to move shipments, but gentle enough to handle fragile items, EVE fits easily into your logistics workflow and works seamlessly with your team in a warehouse or distribution center,” the video caption explains.

The 1X video has been viewed more than 11,000 times and was posted late last year.

“1X designs androids that are built for the benefit of society.

“Since 2014, we have been building androids with safety first, balanced performance and smart behavior.

“Our mission is to design androids that work alongside humans to meet the world's labor demand and build an abundant society,” the caption continues.

The video shows the robots performing simple tasks such as moving carts, lifting boxes and sorting packages.

The LED facial expression on all robots makes them look happy doing their tasks.

Most viewers who commented on the video seemed impressed by the AI ​​machines.

“Great, I wish the 1X team the best of luck with the rollout!” wrote one.

“Okay, in the near future, half of all Amazon employees are definitely kind of screwed,” one viewer added.

The company has been working on two different robots.

One is called EVE and the other is called NEO.

“Currently in use around the world, EVE is an Android on wheels built to work with your team, from logistics to retail,” said the 1X website explains.

NEO is arguably even more human because it has feet instead of wheels.

“Your intelligent Android assistant, currently in development. NEO is a bipedal Android with human-like hands, designed for general purpose applications,” 1X explains.

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SCIENTISTS want to replace guide dogs with four-legged AI robots that talk to users.

Engineers from the University of Glasgow have developed the four-legged RoboGuide to help blind people.

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Prof Wasim Ahmad said: “When we develop something like this, it is a combination of different things.

“The first challenge is how to get to know the environment.”

Colleague Dr. Olaoluwa Popoola added: “Outdoors, GPS performs excellently.

“That's why we use it for our cars and for maps on our phones.

“But indoor spaces are subject to deteriorating GPS signals.”

Snaps show the engineers using the RoboGuide while walking the line through the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow.

Prof Ahmad said: “We use computer vision, we use 3D technology where it scans the entire environment.

“It understands where every object, every pillar, every obstacle is – and remembers and remembers them.”

He added: “The second is avoiding objects or obstacles – we developed that using multiple sensors.

“The third technology we integrated into that is interactivity.”

Dr. Popoola said: “We have integrated some great language models so that intelligent conversations can be had.”

The engineers invited blind people from the area to test the AI ​​guide dog.

Contestant Kyle Somerville said, “100 percent, I would personally use this in the future.

“There are a lot of people I know who would definitely try this or would definitely use it.”