Unitree G1 kicks a human trainer where it hurts, but is the viral groin kick real?
A robot trainer received an unfortunate blow after a motion delay led to the robot kicking him in his crown jewels.
A robot fail video from the Chinese social media platform Bilibili has made its way onto Western social media platforms, and users are howling.
The video, reposted to X by the CEO of the robot combat organizer REK, shows what appears to be a Unitree G1 humanoid robot engaging in combat with a human trainer.
The robot mimics the movements of the human trainer. However, a movement delay occurs, and the trainer is kicked in the groin, causing him to recoil in pain.
As the trainer grabs his crotch, the robot copies his movements in a hilarious moment that isn’t lost on social media users.
“Live by the sword, die by the sword,” said Mario Bollini, the Atlas product lead at Boston Dynamics, a leading American robotics company.
“Robotics,” commented the official account for robotics company 1X.
“Who’s the clanker now?” taunted another X user.
Is the robot groin kick video real?
While many users commented on the video, expressing concern that it shows robots are beginning to take over, others were skeptical of the video’s legitimacy.
“This is fake. There is an inconsistent delay in the robot's motion. The kick has substantial lag, but the groin grab is near simultaneous,” said one user.
The account that reposted the video, CIX, responded to the concern, assuring the user that the video is real.
The trainer is supposedly using a particular type of motion sensor suit, but reiterated that the video is “real but just delayed.”
Another user also had the same concerns, saying that the video isn’t real and users “can tell by the lack of a true mocap suit, the differences in movement between the two.”
However, CIX responded saying that he has the same mocap suit used by the trainer in the video.
“It is a real mocap suit, it's just delayed,” said CIX.
Yet, the X user doubled down and said, “There are no sensors anywhere that the person is wearing. There’s no mocap. It’s fake.”
Following this comment, CIX assured the user that the suit he has is the same as the one in the video, and the “IMUs are hidden in the suit.”
“IMUs” refer to the inertia measurement unit controls, which are electronic devices that measure the body’s force.
Cybernews reached out to CIX, which reposted the video to verify its legitimacy.
CIX told Cybernews that the video is, in fact, real and came from the Chinese social media platform Bilibili.
The trainer in the video is using a mocap suit, specifically the “Xsens Link,” which captures movement and is used in “real-time retargeting.”
Cybernews queried the motion delay, which confused social media users.
CIX told Cybernews that the reason for this delay, causing users to think the video was faked, is because “different motors respond at different speeds, and when it’s balancing, the robot is prioritizing balancing so it won’t solve certain moves until it solves how to balance properly.”
“The kick was harder to balance than the crouch, so it was more delayed,” CIX concluded.
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