Unitree Go2: Waste of money or bargain?

[Chris]

Here is a real world demonstration of the Unitree Go2 from the IFA Berlin House of Robots Tech Conference currently being held in Germany.

What do you think?

It seems to hold up to the sleek promotional material put out by Unitree. Although I’m unsure if it is being remote controlled in this video or not. The Go2 has what Unitree are describing as embodied AI- whether this is a LLM such as ChatGPT is difficult to know but note the website mentions “use varies by country or region” suggesting such embodied AI might not be offline if it’s utilising ChatGPT which isn’t available everywhere.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1679120680368103424

Currently Unitree are offering the Go2 Air edition of their robot dog for US$1,600 from their website excluding shipping and import taxes.

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m.unitree.com

If Unitree had regional based repair centres I could see it being feasible to purchase one at the special price-its cheaper than a Sony Aibo.

But my concerns about it’s hardware reliability and necessity for future repairs leave me wondering if it would just end up a waste of money. Maybe just a toy for the rich. I’m also weary about purchasing robots from China after dealing with Loona and Keyi. Cultural differences around customer service expectations are a big concern in purchasing for me.
The Pro model also includes the embodied AI option:

But the Pro model also rocks a GPT-enabled speech engine. So yes, that means you can converse with it in natural language – but more impressively, it'll also attempt to write code for itself in response to your verbal requests, interpreting your intentions and trying to find a way to help out.


We wouldn't expect it to be much actual use at this stage – and indeed, when asked to do something useful and fetch a glass of water in the promo video, it says it can't reach

The pricing is a little disingenuous; if you want a Unitree Go2 Pro with a controller, you're really looking at $3,050 – and all models have a ludicrous $400 shipping fee and a 25% duty slapped on top if ordered in the USA.

Source:https://newatlas.com/robotics/unitree-go2-robot-dog-gpt/


The ability of Go2 to write its own code and interpret requests using embodied AI are fascinating. This could be a great personal or companion robot, but unfortunately for me the website is too vague and I’m hesitant to deal with a company that doesn’t have locally based service centres.

 

[Kit]

I'm looking into getting a Unitree Go2 for my home in Manhattan. I'm wondering if it has autonomous abilities, or if I'll need to control it manually all the time. I'm also wondering if the charge pile is included in the price, or if I'll need to buy it separately.

I'm a busy guy, so I'm hoping that the Go2 will be able to roam around my apartment on its own and keep an eye on things. I'm also hoping that the charge pile is included, so I don't have to worry about buying it separately.

If anyone has any information about the Go2's autonomous abilities or the charge pile, I would really appreciate it.

 

[Chris]

I'm looking into getting a Unitree Go2 for my home in Manhattan. I'm wondering if it has autonomous abilities, or if I'll need to control it manually all the time.

I asked the YouTuber Miraenda if the Go2 has autonomous abilities and Miraenda reported Go2 avoided her as it approached suggesting it has basic navigating abilities.

I'm also wondering if the charge pile is included in the price, or if I'll need to buy it separately.

From what I can gather from reading the very vague Unitree shop site, the charging pile(why do they call it that?) seems to be a seperate purchase not currently available. It seems to come with an adapter you change it with but I could be completely wrong. You will have to play email ping pong with Unitree.

I'm a busy guy, so I'm hoping that the Go2 will be able to roam around my apartment on its own and keep an eye on things. I'm also hoping that the charge pile is included, so I don't have to worry about buying it separately.

If anyone has any information about the Go2's autonomous abilities or the charge pile, I would really appreciate it.

Are you planning on purchasing one still?