Summary
- Tesla, 1X Technologies, NEURA Robotics, PUDU are developing humanoid robots for household use.
- PUDU’s D9 with claimed human-level interactions is ready for presale for everyday tasks.
- The future might see general-purpose humanoid robots affordable for middle-class households.
For as long as the idea of the robot has existed, we’ve dreamed of the day when you can live like it’s The Jetsons and have a robot do your household chores while you relax.
Apart from robot vacuums, and I guess dishwashers, we still aren’t living this dream. However, several companies have humanoid robots that are aimed at household use, and these seem to be the closest we are to buying them on the open market.
Tesla Optimus
When Elon Musk first showed Tesla’s planned robot, it turned out to be a human in a suit!
This is the very definition of “vaporware”, but it wasn’t long until people could stop laughing, and start feeling a little creeped-out instead. Within just a few years, we went from having no robot to show, to a second-generation Tesla robot confidently strutting around a Tesla factory.
Powered by the same AI systems and processing hardware developer for the self-driving feature of Tesla cars, it’s a more logical product for a car company to make than you think. Besides, car companies like Honda and Toyota have been into robotics forever.
Tesla wants to offer these bots both for industrial and home use, and Musk has intimated that they’d cost around $30,000 a piece. However, if the promised prices of Tesla vehicles are any indication, I’d take that with a big pinch of salt. Also, there’s no telling how the latest financial woes to hit Tesla affect the future of the project, and let’s not mention people who put down a deposit for a second-generation Roadster years ago.
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1X NEO Gamma
The latest “next-generation” version of the NEO robot by 1X Techologies, Gamma certainly looks like a household robot straight out of a utopian sci-fi film.
This is a robot that’s been carefully designed for domestic use, unlike Optimus, which is also meant for industrial use. It has “ear rings” that light up in various ways to give information to the humans around it, and a soft cloth covering for its body to make it safer in a household setting.
It can pick up and manipulate a large variety of objects, and that includes objects that it has never seen before and that weren’t part of its training. It’s got natural language processing abilities and even non-verbal communication abilities in the form of body language. It’s also much quieter than previous models.
While the Gamma isn’t going on sale soon, it is a major step towards that since this is a robot 1X Technologies deems ready to test within a home setting. So maybe the next NEO will be the one you can ask Santa for.
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Unitree G1
The Unitree G1 is probably a robot you’ve seen on the internet quite a bit, especially this world-first standing side-flip.
The G1 isn’t really designed to be a chore bot specifically, but to be a platform to demonstrate agility. Yet Unitree has plenty of videos showing off the G1 doing stuff with its basic three-fingered grippers.
The G1 is maybe most famous for its price. With a starting price of $16,000 it’s one of the cheapest humanoid robots you can buy—and you can buy it. That’s a little misleading though, because the base model isn’t autonomous, and you have to remotely control and program it. That’s great for robotics researchers who just need a platform for their software, but not so interesting if you just want something to mow your lawn.
The G1 itself probably won’t be the exact bot China ships to your house, but one of its descendants might be doing your laundry sooner than you think.
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Neura Robotics 4NE-1
NEURA Robotics is another company that’s marketing its humanoid robot 4NE-1 (snappy) as a device meant to help around the house. According to the company, household robots are coming to our homes “soon” and the promo video is certainly impressive.
Doing the laundry, ironing that laundry, and then pouring you a drink at the end of a long day doing no chores at all seems awesome, but there’s actually not that much we know about the inner workings of this robot. However, NEURA boasts about its cognitive software platform, and the robot is filled with sensors that promise to prevent this robot from ever injuring a human. Though no word on whether it will allow a human to be harmed through inaction.
It’s pretty tall at 180cm (5’11”) and 176lbs, but it has a 25% lower payload than the Tesla Bot. However, I do like the idea of changeable forearms. It might make things easier if you could fit arms that fit particular jobs.
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Pudu D9
The D9 is the culmination of PUDU’s earlier models such as the D7 semi-humanoid and DH11 dextrous hand. In its all-black variant, it’s also the most tactical-looking robot here, but this isn’t a fighter, it’s a worker! What PUDU calls “commercially viable embodied intelligence”.
With baseline specs quite similar to the Optimus, the D9 is already in presale, and PUDU is taking calls from prospective customers, which tells me that this robot is just about ready to start doing stuff in the real world.
PUDU isn’t shy about their confidence in the D9. For example, they claim it has “human-level multimodal natural interactions” thanks to its processing framework, senses, reinforcement training, and all the other techniques that I expect in the creation of a modern robot.
What’s perhaps most interesting is that PUDU has a whole range of bots, with the D9 being special in the sense that it’s bipedal, but the D7 largely only differs by having wheels instead of legs, and it has lots of other non-humanoid bots that could be just as useful in and around your house.
The Tip of the Robo-Iceberg
It seems like the humanoid robots just keep coming, and I didn’t even mention the Agibot A2 or the Figure robots, the latter of which is really making a splash with advanced intelligence. I just don’t think anyone besides multi-millionaires will have a Figure doing stuff in their homes any time soon.
If general-purpose humanoid (or human-space compatible) robots that can take care of us and our homes come down to the price of a basic car, then it’s realistic for middle-class families, at least, to invest in one. I don’t think it’s going to happen tomorrow, but I think wealthier buyers are going to have household robots in service within five years, and upper middle-income households within ten. As for me, I’ll probably get the equivalent of a Korean econobox robot when I retire and need a caretaker, unless I win the lottery, that is.
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