Today Broad Media and MyGaming were visited by members of the Civil Engineering department at the University of Pretoria, who were kind enough to give us a tech demo.
Included in this demo was the Unitree A1 – a robotic dog with four legs and camera eyes that can run around and beg for treats.
It was quite entertaining to watch the little fellow bounding about mechanically in the office and occasionally doing backflips – yes, as shocking as it is, this little mechanical marvel can indeed do backflips.
The Unitree A1 can fall back on its hind legs and beg without losing its balance.
How it works
This robot’s impressive feats are made possible by its complex motor systems. Each of its metal legs has a separate motor that can act independently, thus allowing the machine to carry out far more complex tasks than you’d expected.
This includes doing the aforementioned backflips, hopping onto its hind legs to beg for treats, and much more.
The Unitree A1 is capable of around 4.5k/m speeds at full tilt and can navigate rough terrain and slopes of up to 50 degrees.
The A1 can go about eight metres from its controller before losing signal, but this can be solved by adding a range booster attachment to its back.
You can see the various ports and connections on the A1’s back for attachments.
Practical Applications
As cool and interesting as it is to watch it running around and acting like a dog, its intended purpose is far more practical.
The Unitree A1 is the perfect hazardous data collection tool. Dangerous crawl spaces, mines, sinkholes – wherever a person would risk death, the A1 can go instead.
This is not to say those who would regularly do these tasks will lose their jobs; rather, they will be the ones controlling this impressive machine.
One of the key takeaways from the demo was that innovative machines like the Unitree A1 aren’t meant to detract from society and take people’s jobs, but instead allow them to do their jobs more efficiently.
Once the Unitree A1 is ready to use on a large scale, it should provide a safer and more efficient working environment in hazardous situations.
Below you can find a video of the A1 in action courtesy of MyBroadband.
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