What do they even need us for anymore?
Self Swap
As we continue on our path towards a potential future filled with tireless humanoid robots staffing factory floors, companies are looking to solve a major pain point of the tech: a limited battery life.
Chinese company UBTECH recently showed off its bipedal Walker S2 robot contorting its arms to hot swap one of its battery packs — a “world’s first,” seemingly — which means the 95-pound automaton could technically work 24 hours a day, an integral part of fully automated “dark factories” that never need to keep the lights on.
Video footage shows the robot walking up to a rack of swappable batteries. After unnaturally flipping its arms around, the automaton replaces one of its two battery packs in its back before going on its merry way.
It’s an impressive demo that raises some thorny questions surrounding the role of human workers in a robot-dominated future. They can already prepare elaborate breakfasts and deftly sort packages. If they don’t even need us to swap their batteries, what other responsibilities could soon be on the chopping block?
Around the Clock
UBTECH’s batteries take only 90 minutes to fully recharge, and the Walker S2 can walk for two hours or stand for four hours.
The humanoid robot is part of an explosion in new humanoid robots hitting the market. Particularly in China, companies such as Unitree are developing increasingly affordable bipedal androids.
And it’s not some distant future — companies are already beginning to staff their warehouses and factories with humanoid bots, heralding a machine-dominated future and accelerating the timeline toward a point when conventional factory worker jobs become obsolete.
That’s especially true now that they’re starting to learn how to even replace their own batteries: the days of factory-based grunt work could be numbered.
More on humanoid robots: Wild Video Shows Humanoid Robot Preparing Elaborate Breakfast