China’s humanoid robots have demonstrated a brand new skill – kung fu. 

Dozens of Unitree bots took to the stage at the CCTV Spring Festival gala, which is China’s most–watched TV show. 

Wearing red vests, the robots performed kicks, flips, and even moves with nunchucks, swords, and poles. 

Amazingly, their daring performance took place just metres away from human children performers. 

Incredible footage from the show, released by Unitree, has been highly praised across social media. 

Taking to the comments on YouTube, one fan wrote: ‘Five years ago, this would have been science fiction.’

Another added: ‘If I weren’t watching directly from the Unitree Robotics channel, I’d say it was AI. Incredible!’

And one joked: ‘This is so cool. Maybe I was too harsh on these clankers before.’

China’s humanoid robots have demonstrated a brand new skill – kung fu. Amazingly, their daring performance took place just metres away from human children performers

Wearing red vests, the robots performed kicks, flips, and even moves with nunchucks, swords, and poles

Incredible footage from the show, released by Unitree, has been highly praised across social media

Four humanoid robot startups – Unitree Robotics, Galbot, Noetix and MagicLab – demonstrated their products at the gala, which was held on Monday in Beijing.

During Unitree’s segment, dozens of its G1 robots took to the stage, clad in what Unitree calls the ‘Monkey King’s heavy armor’.   

The fight sequences included a technically ambitious one that imitated the wobbly moves and backward falls of China’s ‘drunken boxing’ martial arts style. 

This particular sequence allowed Unitree to show off its innovations in multi–robot coordination and fault recovery – where a robot can get up after falling down.

‘Dozens of G1 robots achieved the world’s first fully autonomous humanoid robot cluster Kung Fu performance (with quick movement), pushing motion limits and setting multiple world firsts!’ Unitree explained in the description of its YouTube video. 

The G1 humanoid robot weighs 35 kilograms (77lbs), stands at 1.32 metres (4.33ft) tall, and boasts 23 degrees of freedom in its joints, which gives it more mobility than an average human.

Behind its blank face, the robot is hiding an advanced perception system which includes a 3D LiDAR sensor and a depth–sensing camera.

This makes it one of the most advanced commercially available humanoid robots in the world. 

The fight sequences included a technically ambitious one that imitated the wobbly moves and backward falls of China’s ‘drunken boxing’ martial arts style

The G1 humanoid robot weighs 35 kilograms (77lbs), stands at 1.32 metres (4.33ft) tall, and boasts 23 degrees of freedom in its joints, which gives it more mobility than an average human

At last year’s gala, 16 Unitree robots performed a much simpler routine, twirling handkerchiefs and dancing.

‘It’s been just one year – and the performance jump is striking,’ said Georg Stieler, Asia managing director and head of robotics and automation at technology consultancy Stieler.

He added that the robots’ impressive motion control showed Unitree’s focus on developing robot ‘brains’ – the AI–powered software that enables them to complete fine motor tasks that can be used in real–world factory settings.

The improvement on last year was also noticed by many viewers on YouTube. 

‘As a professional in robotics, I am again suprised by the advancement over last year,’ one viewer commented. 

Another added: ‘Insaneeee, last year the robot is just spinning plates, and now they can do Kung Fu on live TV.’

And one said: ‘Wow, HUGE upgrade from last year’s display. Thumbs up Unitree!’

Unitree’s humanoid robots have previously gone viral for their bizarre behaviour.

Behind its blank face, the robot is hiding an advanced perception system which includes a 3D LiDAR sensor and a depth–sensing camera

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Watch as two lifesize robots swing punches at each other in the world’s first humanoid boxing match

Last year, the Chinese robotics firm decided to show off its technology by hosting the world’s first humanoid robot boxing tournament.

In a viral clip, two life–size robots wearing gloves and protective headgear fight each other in a ring as a human officiator looks on. 

While the duelling robots were able to land some kicks and punches, they often had a hard time finding their mark and keeping their feet.