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Chinese tech company Unitree has quickly established itself as the brand to beat in the humanoids robotics industry, wowing observers with a string of headline-grabbing demos of its bots’ abilities in everything from acrobatics to basketball to manual labor to public rizz.
Now the outfit has further differentiated itself with an explosive new offering: a fully functional 500 kilogram mecha suit called the GD01 that a human operator can climb inside and operate like a much larger body.
Sure, it’s smaller than the towering fictional warriors of “Neon Genesis Evangelion.” And instead of a mighty robotic physique, it’s got spindly arms and legs that give it a vaguely goofy vibe. But it’s also an unmistakable feat of engineering, with a video showing the bot striding confidently, knocking over a brick wall with its mighty fist, and even clambering down into a gait that might euphemistically be described as a horse — and perhaps more accurately as a demon scuttle.
Unitree Unveils: GD01, A Manned Transformable Mecha, from $650,000
We’ve seen some kinda-sorta attempts at real-world mecha suits before, but they’re usually more like an animatronic statue than a functional vehicle, or take engineering shortcuts like a quadruped design.
It looks fun, but it doesn’t come cheap: Unitree’s says it’s offering the futuristic vehicle for a starting price of $650,000 and a very particular pinky promise.
“We kindly request hat all users refrain from making any dangerous modifications or using the robot in a hazardous manner,” the company said in its announcement.
More on mecha suits: Watch Dudes Tow a Pickup With a Giant Mecha Suit