Chinese Company Unveils 'Superman' Robot That Can Jump 2 Metres, Claims To Outrun Usain Bolt

Unitree Robotics has unveiled a new humanoid robot that appears to be capable of athletic feats far beyond those of most humans. The Chinese robotics company says the machine can perform a 2-metre standing vertical jump and reach a top speed of 12.66 metres per second, Global Times reported. 

The speed works out to around 45.6 kmph, faster than Usain Bolt's peak speed of about 12.42 metres per second during his 100-metre world-record run in 2009. The robot's reported standing jump also exceeds the human record of around 1.8 metres 

Even more impressive are the robot's relatively short legs, measuring only 0.85 metres long. The humanoid, reportedly nicknamed Superman, was developed in a little over three months and still has a lot of room for improvement, Unitree said. A video released by the company shows the robot launching itself into the air, reaching a height of about 2 metres and landing steadily on its feet. 

Watch the video here:

Unitree has already made headlines for its work on fast-moving humanoid robots. In April, its H1 humanoid reportedly reached a running speed of 10 metres per second, setting a benchmark for the company's earlier machines.

The latest demonstration suggests Unitree now is focusing not only on making humanoid robots faster but also on improving their agility, balance and explosive movement. The performance numbers, however, are based on the company's own demo and have not been independently verified. It's also unknown whether the robot can sustain such speeds or jumps outside of a controlled testing environment.

The announcement follows Unitree's move into the commercial robotics space. The Hangzhou-based company has been developing humanoid robots that should get faster, more capable and potentially cheaper as hardware and artificial intelligence systems improve.