New Mercury B1 X1 AI Robot Humanoids Demo This Next Gen Tech (REFLEX ROBOT)

Elephant Robotics just unveiled its $5,000 Mercury humanoid robot with several next-gen abilities, but do its specs make it worth the money? To start, a central point of this robot’s innovation is its proprietary PowerSpring harmonic module, which is designed to elevate the robot’s capabilities with unprecedented precision and efficiency. In fact, this cutting-edge module boasts high precision and inertia while maintaining a low weight, capped with a maximum output torque of 20 newton metres. Furthermore, the integration of a carbon fibre robotic arm shell reduces the unit’s overall weight in order to optimise the power performance and agility of these humanoids, but it’s Mercury’s computing power that really stands out.

Impressively, the Mercury B1 and X1 humanoid robots are powered by NVIDIA’s state-of-the-art Jetson Xavier and Jetson Nano modules, promising up to 32 tera-operations per second of AI performance. And this robust computing power is indispensable for handling complex tasks such as visual ranging, sensor fusion, localization, map construction, obstacle detection and path planning. Furthermore, the synergy between Elephant Robot’s hardware and NVIDIA’s AI capabilities paves the way for endless possibilities in the realm of embodied intelligence. But what is computation without physical mobility? To this, the Mercury X1 stands out with its high-efficiency wheeled mobile base, which complements its high-performance robotic arms.

Equipped with LIDAR, ultrasonic radar and visual guidance systems, the X1 ensures precise navigation and obstacle avoidance. And remarkably, the robot has a battery life lasting up to eight hours, making it a reliable companion for extended mobile operations. This blend of mobility and performance is set to redefine the standards for humanoid robots. But is it all closed-source? Thankfully, in adhering to Elephant Robot’s open-source tradition, the Mercury series also supports a diverse software ecosystem and mainstream programming languages. Developers can leverage popular simulation software such as ROS, Movit, Gazebo and Mujoko, enhancing the autonomous learning and rapid iteration capabilities of these robots.

This commitment to open-source principles ensures that the Mercury series remains at the forefront of innovation and adaptability. But even more important is the robot’s public-facing API. To this point, Elephant Robot introduces the versatile PyMyCobot Python control library, which is designed to facilitate easy entry into robot programming. This general-purpose library provides a straightforward interface for developers and furthermore, Mercury’s API C++ control interface offers flexible control over robot joints, attitude and actuators, enabling rapid implementation of diverse robotic applications. Plus, these APIs streamline the development process, making advanced robotics accessible to a broader audience.

But it’s the integrated intelligence that take things to the next level. And for the first time, the Mercury series integrates seven intelligence algorithms to enhance the kinematics and dynamics of the robotic arm, suppress vibrations and ensure smooth coordination between both arms. This deep integration with vision, laser and voice sensors creates a comprehensive three-dimensional machine intelligence that’s fully supported by large language models, which is a holistic approach ensuring that Mercury robots deliver exceptional performance across various applications. And on top of this, the Mercury A1 robotic arm also features the innovative My Panel as a built-in two-inch touchscreen designed for rapid teaching, programming, deployment and debugging.

This eliminates the need for additional hardware, streamlining the user experience and making it easier for developers and operators to interact with and deploy the robotic arm. Additionally, the newly developed My Blockly offers a dual editing column function, allowing users to quickly program the left and right arms using preset shortcut commands. This feature facilitates efficient collaboration between the two arms, achieving a synergy where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This feature facilitates efficient collaboration between the two arms, achieving a synergy where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, which is a significant advancement in intuitive and efficient robotic programming.

Furthermore, by incorporating the latest MetaQuest 3 technology, the Mercury VR remote manipulation feature enables low latency, real-time VR control. This innovative solution is particularly valuable for operating robots in hazardous environments, providing a safe and effective means of remote manipulation. The remote control option opens new avenues for the application of Mercury robots in scenarios where human presence is risky or impractical. Meanwhile, a small robotics team from New York is making waves with their groundbreaking advancements. Meet Reflex Robotics, a lean but determined group of five individuals who have set their sights on revolutionizing the world of automation.

Their latest creation, a fast and agile robot, has captured the attention of both industry insiders and curious onlookers alike. In a recent video demo, the robot showcased its remarkable dexterity as it effortlessly tackled a variety of tasks with precision and finesse. From fetching items from shelves to navigating tight spaces, the robot’s dynamic robotic torso moved with fluidity and grace, leaving observers in awe of its capabilities. As the crowd lined up to put the robot through its paces, the researcher team was beaming with pride at the robot’s performance. And one of the reasons for the team’s excitement is that they even believed the robot could be trained to approach human-level efficiency as the robot flawlessly executed request after request.

However, the researchers were quick to reveal a secret behind the robot’s stellar performance, which is that it is primarily tele-operated for now, with a human controlling most of its movements remotely. But there’s a twist. See, the team says this unique collaboration between humans and robots has allowed Reflex to overcome the considerable challenges of full warehouse automation. And by keeping humans in the loop to supervise operations and handle exceptions, the startup has been able to rapidly deploy functional robot workers that are temporarily augmented by human intelligence. In fact, the team says that they are ready to ship today, emphasizing the affordability of their solution at a price below $50,000 per robot.

Enabled by smart design and cloud robotic principles, Reflex’s robots offer a cost-effective solution for accelerating warehouse productivity and scaling operations smoothly. But Reflex’s ambitions don’t end there. Their second-generation system is currently being piloted in select warehouses and third-party logistics providers, with plans to deploy hundreds of robots moving into the end of this year. Their roadmap is ambitious, yet realistic, capitalizing on the close coupling of human and robot workforces to rapidly operationalize automation capabilities in distribution centers. The researchers explained that by having a system that’s getting smarter the more it works, coupled with remote operators and an economic robot, it will likely provide room for the company to scale.

Indeed, if Reflex continues to execute on their human-centered AI strategy for warehouse robotics, they may very well reshape the landscape for supply chain automation adoption. By leveraging advanced machine-learning algorithms and adaptive robotics, they are set to enhance productivity in ways previously thought impossible. The future of warehousing looks brighter with Reflex’s pioneering approach to seamlessly integrating human intelligence with robotic precision. And this is only the beginning of the global robotics revolution. [tr:trw].