EngineAI’s T800 Robot Steps Into the Ring with CEO, Kicking Ensues

EngineAI’s T800 robot grabbed headlines last week after the company posted a promotional film showing it performing a variety of kicks and smashing obstacles. Almost immediately, sceptics began to question whether the entire performance was staged, citing the perfect choreography and dramatic angles as evidence of CGI trickery. Zhao Tongyang, the company’s CEO, resolved to settle the drama by gearing up in full protective gear to face the machine.

Zhao stood there in a large foam suit that wrapped him from shoulders to ankles. His arms were slung loosely at his sides as he locked eyes with the T800, which appeared to be an efficient killing machine just a few feet away across the floor. The robot stands around 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs in at a lean 165 pounds. It was a marvel with its sleek lines, all made of magnesium-aluminum alloy panels that shined under the studio lights.

He hit the floor with a bang that resonated throughout the room, rolled over, and scrambled to his feet, rising up on one knee. He even managed a grin as he rubbed his side, indicating to the world that it had hurt a little, but not as terribly as it could have. The robot stood there for a second or two, leg still outstretched, before lowering it and creating a pose with its arms slightly lifted, as if saying “thank you, nice job.” Zhao got back on his feet, shook himself down, and rushed over to pat the machine on the shoulder. There were no words needed in that instant; it was simply one of those instances when you can see what’s going on in people’s brains without them having to say anything.

This matchup took place just a few days after EngineAI’s T800 was unveiled on December 2. This robot boasts an impressive 29 points of movement in its major joints, allowing you to see everything from a super-accurate grip on an object to a full-body spin on command. Each hand, and we mean each individual hand, has seven degrees of flexibility, allowing it to perform a wide range of jobs with things, such as picking up objects weighing up to 11 pounds and determining how hard it is pressing down on them using built-in palm sensors. Thanks to a solid-state lithium battery that just swaps in like a tool cartridge, this machine can run for 4 hours straight, even while it’s being worked hard. Its legs generate an impressive 332 foot-pounds of torque at peak, all while remaining cool thanks to built-in cooling ducts that prevent overheating when operating overtime. All of this is down to a full circle laser scanner that analyzes its surroundings in real time, allowing the T800 to walk at a staggering 10 feet per second without stumbling.

This is a robot equipped with a powerful Intel processor and an NVIDIA card, which can crunch data at rapid speeds and manage a wide range of duties, including avoiding obstacles and learning new moves on the fly. EngineAI is already considering real-world applications, such as warehouses where the T800 may move big items or service operations that require steady hands and rapid reactions. The whole point of the kicking demo was to hint at things to come, such as the Robot Boxer event planned for Christmas Eve, in which these robots will be able to trade blows in a regulated setting.
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