In April, we had the privilege of visiting the Robotics and AI group at Luleå University of Technology (LTU), hosted by Prof. George Nikolakopoulos and the post-doctoral researcher Akshit Sarandagi. There innovation meets exploration beneath the surface. Our hosts took us into the Subterranean Lab, a unique facility nestled within Mjölkuddsberget, designed to simulate underground mining environments. This lab serves as a testing ground for advanced 5G and emerging 6G technologies, enabling researchers to evaluate new functionalities for future networks in challenging conditions.
Navigating the dimly lit tunnels, we witnessed firsthand how LTU is pushing the boundaries of autonomous systems and connectivity. The lab’s environment, both eerie and exhilarating, provided a glimpse into the future of robotics operating in complex, real-world scenarios.
A highlight of our visit was the live demonstration of Unitree’s G1 humanoid robot. The team had augmented the robot with a backpack loaded with sensors (cameras and lidars) to increase it’s environment awareness. Moreover, the robot was endowed with a microphone and a speaker to enable human-robot interaction in natural language, thanks to an LLM-powered dialogue interface.
Our experience at LTU was both inspiring and informative, offering a window into the cutting-edge research shaping the future of robotics and AI. We extend our gratitude to the LTU team for their hospitality and for sharing their groundbreaking work with us. We are also looking forward to shaping the future of WARA Robotics around Humanoid Robotics!
Last but not least, we received good entertainment from 3 Unitree Go1.
