Unitree’s wheeled robot dog walks, strolls and rolls through tough terrain

Chinese robotics firm Unitree is taking on its US competitors, like Boston Dynamics, by rolling out an interesting update to its quadruped Go2.

The Go2-W is an all-terrain variant of its Go2 series, featuring motorized wheels instead of pads on its feet.

In a recent video shared by the company on YouTube, the new wheeled bot demonstrates a slightly aggressive demeanor towards its non-wheeled counterpart and appears to be quicker in a side-by-side race. However, the official specifications on Unitree’s website still list the top speed as the same as the base Go2, at 5.6 mph (2.5 m/s).

The company has not declared the price of the new Go-2-W variant. However, it is expected to be around $2800.

Versatile capabilities

The four-legged robot’s wheels have 7-inch pneumatic tires, which can be locked for static maneuvers like stair climbing.

The bot can lock its wheels to switch to walking mode, allowing it to navigate difficult terrain, climb stairs, overcome obstacles, or even perform acrobatic feats like balancing on its front legs.

It navigates its surroundings using super-wide-angle lidar and wide-angle vision cameras, ensuring precise obstacle detection. Powered by an octa-core processor, it supports Wi-Fi, 4G, and Bluetooth for wireless connectivity.

The bot is equipped with a 15,000-mAh battery that provides up to four hours of runtime on a single charge and supports fast charging for quick top-offs.

According to the firm, the robodog can carry a payload of approximately 6.6 lb (3 kg) and stands slightly taller than the Go2 at 27.6 in (70 cm), weighing around 40 lb (18 kg).

It features front lighting for nighttime operations and includes a voice function, likely similar to the natural-language GPT engine used in the non-wheeled version.

Advancing accessibility

In June 2021, Unitree unveiled Go1, their first side-following bionic robot . Since its release, the Go1 has significantly impacted the small quadruped research market with its exceptional performance, accessibility, and relatively low cost compared to other legged robots.

Two years later, the Chinese firm introduced Go2, a 33-pound (15-kilogram) robodog, which is an all-terrain canine because of its extremely small blind spot and low minimum detection distance of 0.05 meters.

The ability of Unitree dogs to side-follow or walk alongside you while you walk and appear in your peripheral vision is one of its most unique qualities. Unitree claims that the remote control distance is more than 30 meters and that the positioning precision has been technically improved by 50 percent

The body of Go2 is made of aluminum alloy and high-strength engineering plastic. Unitree’s in-house 4D LIDAR L1 and 360×90 hemispherical ultra-wide recognition are made available on Go2.

Thanks to its broad language base and strong linguistic capacity, Go2 is able to completely comprehend its users’ intentions and surroundings through the integration of OpenAI’s GPT.

This implies that the robodog can communicate with humans and understand their needs in order to provide better assistance. It will also be able to keep up with the conversation.

Unitree claims that “through large-scale AI simulation training, the Go2 robot has learned advanced gaits such as upside-down walking, adaptive roll-over, and climbing over obstacles, with excellent flexibility and stability at the same time, according to its website.

During its launch, Go2 Air, Go2 Pro, and Go2 Edu were the three iterations that went on sale. The standard model costs $1,600 plus an extra $399 for shipping. A side-follow system is included with the $2,800 Pro model. The Unitree sales professional can provide the price of the Edu model, which is not shown on the website.