The new humanoid robot from Westwood Robotics

The hardware and software were redesigned.

Walking and taking something at the same time, for us that is automatic, but for a robot it has always been a problem, in the case of autonomous robberies, most work in stages, first they stop, then they think and only then they act and it is precisely this limitation that Westwood Robotics is trying to break with the new THEMIS Gen2.5.

And to achieve this it was not just software, the complete hardware was redesigned, the chassis was 40% more resistant to impacts, something essential in real environments where errors occur, the arms now have 7 degrees of freedom, that is, they can move in multiple directions with much more precision and support more than 5 kg on each limb.

But what really changes the game is in the joints.

The new Mountain Bear actuators installed mainly in the hip region, increased torque by 120% more force for movement, while operating with up to 80% less heat, in practice this means that the robot can work for longer without overheating and that in an industrial environment makes all the difference, it's just that the body alone does not solve the problem.

The brain also needed to evolve, the company developed the AOS, an operating system focused on humanoid robberies divided into three main parts, one, controls the complete movement of the body, guaranteeing balance while the robot walks and manipulates objects, another is in charge of navigation, allowing it to understand the environment around it and the third is responsible for the interaction using a vision and action model focused on objects that allow identifying, locating and taking items without having to interrupt the movement.

And this is where things get interesting, because that ability to do two things at the same time, that is exactly what separates a demonstration robot from a really useful robot, the company behind the robot was born within one of the most respected laboratories in the area, UCLA's Rila, responsible for extremely agile robots like the Artemis, only there is an important detail here, an efficient robot on its own is already impressive.