Bigger, Stronger, Smarter GR-2 Humanoid Also Gets Significant Hand Upgrades

One of the most interesting and unique robots in the emerging humanoid universe has received an unexpected upgrade. Fourier Intelligence of Shanghai launched the GR-2, which is taller, heavier, smarter, more dexterous, and much more powerful than the GR-1.

It’s also far more complete than the first model we saw last July, with an oddly skeletal and lanky appearance in contrast to the beefy 300 Nm (221 lb-ft) hip actuators. I did. This made GR-1 one of the heaviest androids on the market, capable of lifting nearly 55 kg (121 lb) of its own weight.

I didn’t lift it with my hands, mind you, but it did have a purple plastic handrail in the pelvic area. Fourier uses the GR Series Humanoid as a home helper for elderly and disabled patients, especially in countries where populations are rapidly aging and there is no guarantee that a human worker will be on hand to help them get in and out of beds or wheelchairs. I envisioned it. If the purple grab handle has a slightly medical/rehabilitation look, that’s why.

The new GR-2, launched a few hours ago, has a similar grab rail, but the largest motor can deliver up to 380 Nm (280 lb-ft) of torque, although Fourier has not yet announced it. The lifting capacity is definitely higher than GR-1.

The GR-2 is also taller than many competing humanoids, at 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) tall to most adult eyes, but much of its interior now has a sleek exterior. It is covered with a plastic body. Weight is 63 kg (139 lbs).

It also comes with a pretty nice set of hands. This is a very complex and very important part of Android, as I discussed last year with Suzanne Gildert, former CTO of Sanctuary AI. The GR-2’s new hands appear to be electrically operated. As such, it’s not as fast or strong as Sanctuary’s remarkable Phoenix and its hydraulic hand system, but it offers 12 degrees of freedom, tactile sensitivity, and can be adjusted dynamically. You can grip it in real time and “feel” the shape and material. Check it out:

Each hand/arm can only carry up to 3 kg (6.6 lbs), so it certainly wasn’t designed to be a box jockey or factory mule like the Figure, Tesla, or Agility Humanoid, at least in its current form.

These 12 degrees of freedom of hand movement do not bring the GR-2 to the level of the human hand. The human hand provides approximately 27 degrees of freedom thanks to its seemingly chaotic bone and muscle structure. And indeed, the competition is working to get even closer, with Elon-tastic’s release date set for “later this year.”

Although the GR-2 is still far from a consumer product, Fourier is manufacturing large quantities of the GR-1 to send to development partners. These are highly educational platforms for commercial and academic robot development programs.

As such, it is designed to work with popular open source robot development software tools such as ROS, Mujoco, and nVidia’s Isaac Lab.

The onboard AI system is designed to learn by seeing and doing. The arms and hands can be controlled by VR telepresence, direct command, or a technique called “read-through programming,” literally by grabbing the appendages and moving them to show them what to do.

fourier

It’s certainly remarkable to see how quickly these AI-powered humanoids are being developed. Realistically, most of the leading candidates have robot bodies that are already powerful enough to be very useful in the real world, even though they will obviously improve by leaps and bounds in the coming months and years. Looks like you’re prepared.

The difficult parts are the same. It’s about training these embodied AIs to interact with the world around them in ways that are useful, effective, and above all, safe. Especially when these things are tasked with getting into the homes of vulnerable people and helping them move.

But given enough training data, enough processing power, and enough computing power, modern AI technology is already achieving impressive results, faster than any cutting-edge technology I can remember. Progressing at speed.

Humanoids still look more like toddlers than large language model AIs like ChatGPT. But with unlimited cheap labor, uncapped economic productivity, and an eye toward an after-work society, companies promoting this technology are well on their way. They have the money, they have the drive, they are very passionate about getting these things into circulation.

I have no intention of losing to them over a 5- or 10-year time horizon.

Source: Fourier