UBTECH unveils the Walker C1, a full-size commercial humanoid robot that blends precise motion control with artistic performance. Chinese robotics company UBTECH unveiled its Walker C1 by making it perform ballet movements from Swan Lake alongside human dancers. The full-size humanoid demonstrated advanced balance, precise motion control, and coordinated body movement during the live presentation. Designed for service roles in public environments such as hotels, airports, and exhibition centers, the Walker C1 highlights UBTECH’s latest developments in humanoid robotics, artificial intelligence, and human-like mobility. Last year, China’s LimX Dynamics showcased its full-size humanoid robot LimX Oli executing ballet-style dance moves during a live performance art debut. Waltzing robot future The performance marked UBTECH’s being named the official exclusive humanoid robot partner of Chain Expo (China International Supply Chain Expo) 2026. The firm’s new-generation full-size commercial service humanoid robot, Walker C1, performed waltz and ballet routines alongside human dancers during a live demonstration highlighting its precision movement, balance, and coordination. “This is more than a dance. It’s a glimpse into the future of intelligent service robotics — where full-scale humanoids work, interact, and move alongside us in perfect harmony. The future of service robotics has never looked so elegant,” said the firm in the YouTube video description. UBTECH has not released detailed specifications for its new humanoid C1 robot. However, it is expected to be similar to the company’s Walker C model, a full-size, electric-driven, embodied intelligent humanoid robot designed for commercial environments. Powered by UBTECH’s self-developed embodied interactive large model, Walker C supports multilingual interaction for applications such as exhibition halls, office buildings, shopping malls, transport hubs, and public service areas. It can function as a guide, receptionist, and smart assistant, offering Q&A support, voice broadcasting, and interactive engagement. The robot features U-SLAM navigation for autonomous route planning, whole-body motion control, and obstacle detection for dynamic environments. It can walk at speeds of up to 3.7 mph (6 km/h) and perform human-like gestures and dance movements. Additional capabilities include AI-powered multilingual narration, adaptive service responses, and human-robot interaction through multiple degrees of freedom. It has been deployed in real-world settings such as Expo 2025 Osaka, where it serves as an intelligent tour guide in the China Pavilion. Humanoid robot expansion Last year, UBTECH announced that it rolled out its 1,000th Walker S2 humanoid robot from its Liuzhou manufacturing facility, marking a key milestone in its production scale-up. The company said more than 500 Walker S2 units are already deployed and operating across multiple real-world applications. The milestone reflects a transition from prototype development to large-scale commercial deployment of humanoid robots. UBTECH also outlined plans to significantly expand production capacity, targeting up to 10,000 units annually by 2026, as demand for industrial and service humanoid robots continues to grow. UBTECH reported securing orders worth approximately 800 million yuan (about $113 million) in 2025, spanning customized robotic systems and large-scale deployments. One major contract in September involved a well-known Chinese company placing a 250 million yuan ($35 million) order for advanced robotics solutions. Additional commitments include 159 million yuan ($22.5 million) from a customer in Sichuan and 126 million yuan ($17.9 million) from a Guangxi-based project, alongside more than 100 million yuan ($14.2 million) from Midea Auto in Hubei. According to the firm, demand is being strongly driven by the automotive sector, with companies such as BYD, Geely Auto, FAW-Volkswagen, Dongfeng Liuzhou Motor, and Foxconn adopting humanoid robots for manufacturing and logistics operations. These deployments focus on enabling continuous, low-supervision operations in factories and warehouses, where early trials indicate stable performance in real-world industrial environments. Recently, UBTECH signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Siemens Digital Industries Software to accelerate large-scale humanoid robot manufacturing and achieve the target annual production capacity of 10,000 units by 2026. Signed in Shenzhen on March 16, the partnership combines UBTECH’s humanoid robotics technology with Siemens’ industrial digitalization and smart manufacturing expertise as demand for industrial humanoid robots continues to increase.

Source: Interesting Engineering

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