It may resemble a human, but Fourier Intelligence’s GR-1 robot has six eyes instead of two — the robotics company recently updated its humanoid robot with six cameras that give it a full 360-degree view around it. Most other humanoid robots use a mix of cameras and sensors, including lidar, radar, and infrared, to understand their place in the surrounding environment. However, Fourier is going with a vision-only approach that relies on cameras and avoids all the other hardware. It’s not the first time we’ve seen this; Tesla previously removed radar and ultrasonic sensors from its EVs in favor of a similar camera-based approach for its Autopilot system. This approach may even be what Tesla is doing with its Optimus bot, which uses the same system as its Full-Self Driving.As for the GR-1, the six cameras are placed strategically around the robot to give it a 360-degree view. Since it can see all around it, the cameras’ views can be combined to generate a bird’s eye view that helps the GR-1 map out where it is in relation to its surroundings. With the top-down look, Fourier’s robot can even generate a virtual environment with 3D models so it knows exactly how much space it has to avoid collisions. Fourier claimed that the GR-1 was smart enough to detect cars and pedestrians on sidewalks during its outdoor walking tests. Besides its new vision-only system, Fourier infused the GR-1 with a “ChatGPT-like multimodal large language model” along with natural language processing and logical reasoning. Roger Cai, director of robot application R&D at Fourier, said that the GR-1 could be used for medical rehab, family services, security, emergency rescue, or industrial manufacturing. However, the GR-1’s vision-only system presents a major benefit. According to Fourier, this camera-only approach cuts down on hardware costs, while still improving the GR-1’s perception. Considering how most humanoid robots are rumored to cost the price of an entry-level car, this could be the defining factor of the GR-1 that helps make humanoid robots more mainstream.
Full report : This Humanoid Robot Borrows An Impressive Trick From Tesla’s Autopilot.
