Unitree G1 is a bipedal humanoid robot developed by Unitree Robotics, officially launched in May 2024 as the company's second-generation humanoid following the H1. Designed specifically as an affordable, developer-friendly research platform, G1 represents a breakthrough in making advanced humanoid robotics accessible to universities, research labs, and companies at less than one-tenth the cost of comparable systems.
Design Philosophy: Flexibility Beyond Human Limits
G1's most distinctive design choice is its extreme joint flexibility, exceeding typical human range of motion. The robot can bend its waist ±155°, achieve 170° hip swing, and fold its knees 165° (nearly touching heel to thigh). This extraordinary articulation allows G1 to perform full-depth squats with its body nearly touching the ground, execute splits, and collapse into a compact 69 cm folded height for storage or recovery. The EDU configuration adds even more flexibility with a 3-DOF waist (pitch, roll, yaw) and 2-DOF wrists, enabling the robot to twist and contort in ways that would be impossible for humans. This design philosophy serves both practical and performance purposes: the flexibility allows G1 to navigate tight spaces, adopt stable low stances for manipulation tasks, and execute dynamic movements like backflips and the world's first humanoid "kip-up" - jumping from lying flat on its back directly to standing.
Agile, AI-Driven Locomotion
Unlike traditional humanoids that rely on pre-programmed walking gaits, G1 uses deep reinforcement learning and imitation learning to achieve remarkably agile locomotion. Unitree trained G1's movement controllers in simulation using their UnifoLM (Unified Robot Large Model) platform, allowing the robot to learn adaptive balance strategies rather than rigid movement patterns. The result is a humanoid that can walk at 2 m/s (7.2 km/h), handle pushes and disturbances with quick corrective steps, traverse uneven terrain including stairs with debris, and perform acrobatic maneuvers including standing backflips and jumps. At 35 kg with powerful 90-120 N·m knee actuators (base and EDU respectively), G1 achieves an exceptional power-to-weight ratio that enables these dynamic capabilities. The robot's 23 custom electric servo motors feature hollow-core designs with dual encoders for precise position and torque feedback, enabling force-controlled movements that can be both powerful and delicate.
Dexterous Manipulation Hands
G1 offers an optional Dex3-1 dexterous hand with 7 degrees of freedom - a three-fingered design featuring a 3-DOF thumb, 2-DOF index finger, and 2-DOF middle finger. With force feedback at each joint, these hands can handle objects ranging from fragile eggs to tough walnuts, adjusting grip pressure automatically. Demonstrations have shown G1 unscrewing bottle caps, picking up small items, using welding tools with precision, and manipulating objects requiring fine motor control. The hands are IP68-rated (fully submersible), allowing operation in wet environments or handling liquids. Each arm can lift 2-3 kg payload (base vs EDU), sufficient for common tools, small parts, and household objects. While not matching full human hand dexterity (the ring and pinky fingers are not independently actuated), the Dex3-1 hand provides far more capability than simple grippers, enabling G1 to use human tools and interact with objects designed for human hands.
Advanced 360° Perception System
G1 features a sophisticated sensor suite centered on an Intel RealSense D435i depth camera and Livox Mid-360 LiDAR. The RealSense provides stereoscopic RGB-D vision with integrated IMU, allowing the robot to perceive 3D structure and color information for object recognition and manipulation. The Livox Mid-360 LiDAR offers full 360° environmental scanning - a rare feature in humanoid robots that typically only have forward-facing sensors. This complete surround awareness allows G1 to detect obstacles, people, and hazards in all directions without turning its body, crucial for safe autonomous navigation. The robot also includes a 4-microphone far-field array for sound localization and a 5W speaker for audio output. All sensor data is fused through the onboard computing system to enable SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping), autonomous navigation, and collision avoidance.
Onboard Computing and AI Capabilities
The base G1 runs on an 8-core high-performance CPU handling real-time control, state estimation, and basic AI tasks. The EDU version adds an optional NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX/AGX module providing 100-157 TOPS of AI compute performance, enabling onboard deep learning for computer vision, natural language processing, and advanced autonomy without requiring external computing resources. The system runs a Linux-based operating system (likely Ubuntu) with native ROS 2 support, making G1 immediately compatible with the vast robotics software ecosystem. Unitree's UnifoLM platform enables continuous improvement through machine learning - the robot's capabilities can expand over time as new skills are trained in simulation and deployed via over-the-air software updates.
Developer-Friendly Platform
G1 is designed from the ground up as a programmable research platform. It ships with full ROS 2 support, allowing researchers to use standard robotics tools like MoveIt for motion planning and Nav2 for navigation. Unitree provides an SDK with C++ and Python APIs for controlling joints, reading sensors, and commanding high-level behaviors. The EDU version offers "secondary development" access, giving researchers low-level control to implement custom algorithms. G1 is compatible with popular simulation environments including NVIDIA Isaac Sim and MuJoCo, allowing developers to safely test algorithms in virtual environments before deploying to hardware. A wireless controller is included for manual teleoperation, enabling both direct remote control and teaching by demonstration workflows.
Connectivity and Continuous Improvement
G1 includes Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, enabling high-bandwidth wireless communication for remote operation, sensor streaming, and software updates. The robot receives regular over-the-air (OTA) firmware and software updates from Unitree, continuously improving gait algorithms, adding new capabilities, and fixing issues based on real-world usage data from the growing fleet of deployed robots. This means a G1 purchased today will become more capable over time through software improvements, similar to how Tesla updates its vehicles. The connectivity also enables multi-robot coordination, cloud-based AI processing, and remote monitoring capabilities.
Practical Applications
While positioned primarily as a research platform, G1 has demonstrated practical capabilities across multiple domains. In industrial R&D, it can perform delicate assembly tasks, quality inspection with visual feedback, and tool operation including welding. In educational settings, it serves as a hands-on platform for teaching robotics, AI, and human-robot interaction. Research applications span locomotion studies, manipulation research, human-robot collaboration experiments, and AI algorithm development. The robot's compact size (132 cm) allows it to operate in human-scale environments, reaching desk heights and standard controls while fitting through doorways.
Availability and Pricing
Unitree offers G1 in two main configurations. The base model at $13,500 USD includes 23 DOF, standard computing, and basic gripper hands. The EDU version (pricing on request, estimated $16,000-20,000) adds the NVIDIA Jetson Orin module, upgraded actuators (120 N·m knees vs 90 N·m), dexterous Dex3-1 hands, additional waist and wrist DOF (up to 43 total DOF), and extended 18-month warranty versus 8 months for base model. Both versions are currently shipping, though high demand has created backlogs. Unitree achieved this revolutionary pricing through aggressive cost optimization - the G1 costs approximately 90% less than their previous H1 humanoid ($150,000) by leveraging proven components from their successful quadruped robot line, optimizing manufacturing, and targeting higher production volumes.
Safety Considerations
Unitree explicitly advises that G1 requires trained operators and should not be used unsupervised around untrained individuals, children, or pets. At 35 kg moving up to 7.2 km/h, the robot poses collision risks despite its relatively light weight. G1 includes emergency stop capability and likely has collision detection through joint torque sensing, but it is not certified for safe interaction with humans like collaborative industrial robots. The force-controlled hands can adjust grip pressure to avoid crushing objects, but full-body safety relies primarily on operator vigilance and proper programming. G1 is best suited for controlled laboratory, educational, and industrial R&D environments where operators understand robotic safety protocols.
History
The G1's development timeline reflects Unitree's rapid innovation in humanoid robotics:
- February 2023: Unitree begins internal humanoid robot R&D project, rapidly developing first prototype
- July 2023: Unitree H1 (first-generation full-size humanoid, 1.8m tall, $150,000) unveiled in China, demonstrating 3.3 m/s running speed and backflips
- April 2024: G1 prototype participates in Global Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon in Beijing via third-party team
- May 16, 2024: Unitree officially unveils G1 humanoid at groundbreaking $13,500 base price
- Late 2024: G1 achieves world's first humanoid "kip-up" - jumping from lying flat directly to standing position
- 2024-2025: Unitree ships over 1,500 humanoid robots (combining H1 and G1), becoming one of the highest-volume humanoid manufacturers globally
- December 2024-January 2025: G1 showcased at CES 2025 with teleoperation demonstrations and acrobatic capabilities
- Early 2025: Growing developer community discovers root access methods, active ROS integration projects emerge
- Late 2025: G1 remains in production with ongoing software updates and widespread deployment to research institutions globally
