Flying solo tied to a jetpack is a dream we have been savoring for quite some time now. And since movies like the Transformers, the idea of transforming Autobots has been another craze humanity is chasing for various applications. In China, robotics company Unitree has made the idea of humans piloting transforming ‘mecha’ robots a reality. The first glimpse of this is making rounds on the internet and has had netizens hailing this engineering breakthrough, which makes science fiction a reality.
Meet the Unitree GD01, the world’s first ‘production-ready manned mecha built for industrial use. It measures roughly 2.7 meters tall and weighs over 500 kg. The GD01 is the successor to Unitree robots such as the dog companion, but Unitree does not reveal many details about the robot.
Designer: Unitree
What we have as the source is a video doing the rounds on the internet, which shows how the GD01 can transform from a two-legged humanoid into a four-legged crawler. The machine with human-like legs and arms with hands is remotely controlled, but can also accommodate a person in its torso, who can control the transforming humanoid in the style of a mecha. Mecha is different from an autonomous robot as they are piloted from a cockpit inside. They have been popularized in Japanese anime, but it’s in China that they’re getting a realization for real-world applications.
The durable alloy robot is designed to transport a person and to be used in high-risk and harsh environments. It can walk like a humanoid robot in its red and gray avatar. The demonstration video shows Wang Xingxing, founder and CEO of Unitree Robotics, climbing into the torso-mounted cockpit of the GD01 mecha to maneuver it. We can also see the robot knocking down a brick wall with its hand before transitioning into a four-legged robot.
According to initial information, the Unitree Robotics GD01 will start at $650,000, which easily makes it the most expensive humanoid in the competition. For comparison, the previous Unitree models like R1 only cost about $6,000. Of course, the price tag is owing to the functionality of the GD01, which can be used for various applications, “mainly aimed at changing the way we work,” the company notes.
In the video, we can see the GD01 walking on flat surfaces, but it can be assumed that it will be able to maneuver different terrains in the near future. China and Unitree are leading the way in the production of capable humanoids, which prompts us to make such assumptions. According to a report from research firm Omdia, China accounts for nearly 90 percent of global humanoid sales in 2025.’ Amid those sales, it is worth noting that Unitree alone has shipped upward of 5,500 humanoid robots in 2025, the South China Morning Post reports.
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