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This week, the latest in a long lineup of humanoid robot videos hit the internet, something we’ve become quite accustomed to in 2024.
The latest is of NEO Beta, the second generation of humanoid robot from company 1X.
I have to admit, I had previously written of this company as a serious competitor as their Alpha robot used wheels rather than feet which significantly limits is applications to the the point where it simply wasn’t interesting or competitive with the latest bots.
Now NEO Beta is here with a very human-like form factor.
In the video, we see the bot performing some very human-like movements, like picking up a bag from the ground and handing it to a human.
CEO and founder of @1x_tech, Bernt Bornich has spent much of the day responding to questions, including one from me.
Bornich also released her own video to compliment the first. In this video, it’s the same vibe, a humanoid robot, doing human-like things, not on the production line, where the first commercially available humanoid robots are likely to be found first, but at home.
The robot helps to unpack the dishwasher, removing a glass, placing it in the cupboard and closing the cupboard door.
As impressive as these videos are, it is interesting to note what we don’t see, there’s no obstructions or challenges in the way for the robot, so we don’t truly understand it’s ability to dynamically respond to an ever-changing environment.
The NEO Beta robot then picks up an egg and passes it to the lady. We understand that the hands have as much as 22 degrees of freedom, with 5 fingers per hand, and all the standard joints humans have, to enable the dexterity.
Some of the movements, combined with the slender form factor, led a number of people to think this was a human in a suit. When you look closely, it’s clear there’s nowhere for human hands to fit inside the hands of the robot.
This does raise the question, why does a humanoid robot need clothes? One explanation for it is that each robot maker needs to deal with pinch points, like it’s hip joints, inner elbow, underarms etc, particularly when it shares environments with humans. By covering the gaps and wires with fabric, this can keep fragile human fingers away.
You’d hope this fabric is washable and that that robot better be able to wash its own clothes.
What we learned from the replies
From Bornich’s replies to commenters on X, we learned the following additional pieces of information today..
- You will be able to train your own tasks, one of our biggest wins this year is that the robot operators now train the models, not the AI team. Refined version of same tools will ship with the droid
- Battery life is between 2-4 hours, depending on use, with chargeport on the side of the torso so it can plug itself in
- Neural network outputs current (amp) targets to the motors to be exact (roughly linearly correlated with torque at the joints given the transparent design of the tendons). AI team based in the Bay/US, but this effort spans all teams from AI to foundational software/OS to firmware
- Noise levels – Generally below audible levels unless you stand close and listen while it moves fast, this is due to the tendon based actuators instead of gears
- Voice – NEO Beta has integrated microphones arrays in the ears and speakers in the “jaw area” – voice interactions coming shortly once certain restrictions are lifted and we can show it publicly
- Walking – Our approach to walking is fully learned all the way down to torques. Still work in progress and the goal is to have it walking and running as efficient and natural as a human by end of year. First baby steps
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