- Humanoid robot development is advancing rapidly thanks to AI, investments, and pressure to automate industry, especially in China.
- The Czech Republic is also entering the global competition.
- Blogic from Zlín is developing the humanoid George and seeking investors for serial production.
Among the main representatives of current progress in humanoid development—robots resembling humans—are Optimus from Tesla, Atlas from Boston Dynamics, and several models from the Chinese company Unitree. These robots could soon replace certain human activities. Tesla, for example, is gradually integrating Optimus into the production of its electric vehicles, and Hyundai, the owner of Boston Dynamics, is preparing similar steps with Atlas. The first companies focused on this are also emerging in Europe. Now a company from Zlín is joining in, having created a prototype of the Czech humanoid George. They want to attract investors to complete it.
Humanoid creation is attractive thanks to recent advances in robotics and artificial intelligence. Boston Dynamics has been on the market for a long time and has changed owners several times. The company tried its luck with Google and SoftBank, but for a long time no one knew how to make money with these machines. Now a significant technological shift can be observed. China also played a role in accelerating development by making humanoids one of its priorities, and thus large resources are flowing into the area with state support. This triggered the FOMO effect, where no one wants to miss the next potential big thing.
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According to current expectations, humanoids could play an important role in modernizing industry. If they could perform work in factories, operating costs would decrease and efficiency would increase, strengthening competitiveness. China, among other things, expects this to solve the problem of a declining demographic curve—a decrease in population and workforce. "My idea is that humanoids will be deployed in factories or warehouses. They will be able to carry heavy objects, enter places with radiation, work in hazardous environments, test products, and so on," Chen Li, co-founder of Unitree, told e15.