The Chinese AgiBot A2 is now the Guinness World Record holder for “longest journey walked by a humanoid robot” after spending three days travelling over 66 miles, TechSpot reports. The bot did use hot-swappable batteries, which allowed it to keep going even when switching over (and we don’t know how many times that happened). Still, it demonstrates that the continued, long-term operation of these kinds of robots is already possible today, over extended distances and across a variety of surfaces.
Walking a long distance is still a major achievement for humanoid robots, which tend to fall over (especially if they’re Russian). But doing so over a multi-day, 66-mile trip across asphalt, tiled pavement, bridges, slopes, and hills is a new milestone entirely.
The AgiBot A2 began its record-breaking journey at Jinji Lake in China’s Jiangsu province on Nov. 10 and ended up at Shanghai’s Bund waterfront district on Nov. 13.
The robot is said to be equipped with dual GPS modules along with built-in lidar and infrared depth cameras to aid navigation. The creators claim this gives it the ability to navigate in changing light conditions and complex urban environments. It’s equally possible that the robot received manual guidance, or even occasional manual control, as nothing about the record prohibits human intervention.
The developers claim this is the same model that would roll off the factory floor for anyone to purchase, but the A2 did have a team of people with it at all times.
Either way, this is still a strong promo video for the A2 robot. The developers claim it can understand multiple languages, recognize faces, and use long-term memory to grow its capabilities as it ages. It can use its automated walking functions to act as a delivery robot or a guide.
The AgiBot A2 is currently priced at approximately $27,000. That’s expensive, but not out of reach for some, especially enterprises.
Give it a decade, and we might all have one of these in our homes.