China's Tron 1 robot hurdles over obstacles like they're nothing
Chinese company LimX Dynamics has just unveiled the Tron 1, a multi-modal biped robot that's turning heads in the robotics world.
This compact powerhouse offers not one, not two, but three distinct modes of locomotion – walking, rolling and pivoting – all in one sleek package.
Whether navigating rough terrain or zipping across various surfaces, Tron 1 adapts with ease, showcasing its impressive versatility and capabilities.
Standing at about 33 inches tall and weighing less than 44 pounds, Tron 1 is a compact yet powerful robot designed for versatility. Its modular foot-end system allows it to switch seamlessly between three different configurations. The point-foot setup is ideal for precise legged control and agile movements, while the sole configuration mimics humanoid walking for a smoother, more natural gait.
For faster mobility across varied terrains, the wheeled mode provides swift and efficient all-terrain travel.
Don't let its size fool you. Tron 1 packs a punch in the processing department. Equipped with a 12th-generation Intel Core i3 processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, this robot is ready to tackle complex tasks and algorithms. Its 48V actuators deliver a peak torque of about 59 pounds-feet, allowing it to carry loads up to 22 pounds (with a maximum of 33 pounds). That's some serious muscle for a robot of its size.
Recent demonstrations have showcased Tron 1's impressive agility. It can hop over hurdles, climb irregular stairs and navigate obstacles with ease. While it excels in many areas, it does have its limits; a maximum climbing angle of 15 degrees and obstacle height limitation of 15 cm keep it grounded in reality. Still, it's pretty impressive to see it bounce back from a push, showing off its self-balancing skills.
Tron 1 is more than just a fancy toy. It's a serious research tool. With support for Python development and compatibility with simulation platforms like NVIDIA Isaac and Mujoco, it bridges the gap between virtual and real-world experimentation. The open SDK and hardware interfaces allow researchers to push the boundaries of robotic motion control and embodied intelligence. Whether you're a seasoned researcher or just starting out, TRON 1 offers endless possibilities for exploration and innovation.
Priced at $15,000, Tron 1 comes ready to use right out of the box. It caters to both beginners and professionals, with a comprehensive user manual and example code to get you started. The standard edition is perfect for those looking to explore the world of multi-modal robotics without diving into secondary development. If you're looking for more customization options, the Education Edition is the way to go.
Tron 1's versatility, processing power and user-friendly design make it an invaluable tool for research, education and innovation. As we continue to push the boundaries of what robots can do, machines like Tron 1 will play a crucial role in shaping our understanding of artificial intelligence and human-robot interaction. The future of robotics is here, and it's walking, rolling and pivoting its way into our lives.
Do you think robots like Tron 1 will make our lives safer or introduce new risks we haven't considered? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.
For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.
Follow Kurt on his social channels:
Answers to the most-asked CyberGuy questions:
New from Kurt:
Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
The only ‘Made in America' smartphone maker has a message for Apple about manufacturing in the Trump tariff era
Todd Weaver has an important message for Apple as it faces growing demands by President Donald Trump to reshore some of its smartphone production: Don't listen to the conventional wisdom. Experts have long said that manufacturing iPhones in the U.S., rather than Asia, as Apple does, would be logistically impossible and ridiculously expensive. But Weaver argues companies can indeed do it successfully, and at a similar or only slightly higher cost—if given several years to navigate the inevitable complications. Weaver should know: His startup, Purism, is among the few, if not the only business, that assembles smartphones in the U.S. In fact, the U.S. pedigree is the main selling point of his company's Made in America device, the Liberty Phone. 'It is challenging to do this in the U.S.,' Weaver acknowledges. 'It's probably the reason I'm the only one.' And yet, he says his company has managed to make it work and has been profitable for the last two years—a real world example of what's possible on a hot-button topic in which political talking points and vested interests often dominate the debate. President Donald Trump recently put U.S. smartphone production in the spotlight as part of his global trade war. On May 23, he used social network Truth Social to publicly attack Apple for importing iPhones into the U.S., rather than making them domestically, and then threatened the company with a 25% tariff if it continued to do so. Whether any of the import taxes will become permanent is unclear given Trump's whiplash decision-making and court challenges by third parties. Still, Apple has long assembled its iPhones overseas, mainly in China, and has resisted relocating any of that production to the U.S. In April, when Trump announced his tariffs, Apple went so far as to shift the sourcing of most U.S.-bound iPhones to India, which faced lower import taxes. U.S. assembly was never publicly mentioned as a possibility. In the past, Apple CEO Cook explained the reluctance by saying the abundance of skilled labor and top-notch suppliers overseas would be difficult to reproduce at home. Weaver's company, of course, is no Apple, which has sold more than 2 billion iPhones globally since introducing the first models in 2007. The devices unleashed a new era in the tech industry in which mobile devices became the prime focus. Purism, in contrast, has sold just tens of thousands of phones since debuting its first model in 2018, according to Weaver. And the company is barely-known outside the world of tech nerds. Its Liberty Phone, manufactured near San Diego, comes with U.S.-made electronics installed on a metal chassis from China. It retails for $1,999. Another phone, the Librem 5, is mostly the same design, except it's made in China with Chinese parts, and costs $799. The company also produces tablet computers, laptops, and servers. Purism pitches its Made in America device as more secure and privacy friendly than those from major manufactures like Apple. Because all the critical parts and assembly are domestic, it's easy to verify that they haven't been tampered with by a foreign adversary that wants to snoop or stuff them with explosives. The phones also run on a Linux-based open source operating system. Anyone with technical know-how who is worried about the security can review the code—unlike with more popular phones, which come with operating systems that can't be easily inspected. Additionally, Purism's phones come with three kill switches that lets users physically disconnect their device from cell service, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, along with its microphone and camera. When turned on, the switches sever the electrical circuit to the features they control and make it impossible for them to be accessed by hackers, Weaver said. Toggling on Airplane Mode, as users often do on more mainstream phones, is less secure, he said, because it's a purely software feature that doesn't cut power to the device's chips. Customers who are especially security conscious can pay extra to have their devices shipped with 'tamper evident tape' on the packaging, among other options, to flag any monkey business during transit. Purism's biggest customers are government agencies, many of which require high security, and individual consumers. The company's clients, Weaver said, include the FBI and the House Select Committee on Intelligence. Weaver said the cost of manufacturing the Purism's two phones is largely the same, despite one being made overseas and the other domestically. The phone that's made in China costs around $600 for parts, manufacturing, and assembly while the U.S.-made one comes in at $650. 'Producing goods in China vs. the U.S. is the same plus or minus 10%,' said Weaver, based mostly on automation. The difference between what Purism charges customers for its two phones is partly due to the higher profit margin the company collects for its U.S.-made device. People who want stronger security are often willing to pay extra for it, Weaver said. It also covers the extra overhead from some customers wanting to verify that Purism's supply chain is secure and the small additional cost of U.S. manufacturing. Purism's assembly line is in Carlsbad, Calif., where up to a dozen workers put together devices. The area is home to a pool of skilled labor thanks to the local defense industry and manufacturing for other mobile carriers. That relatively modest assembly line is a major contrast to the factories that make iPhones, operated by contract manufacturers, mostly in China. Those facilities can be the size of several football fields and employ over 100,000 people who work around-the-clock shifts. Weaver said the U.S. is at a huge disadvantage to China when it comes to skilled workers, who make up a significant part of the workforce in smartphone factories. The only way to reverse the shortage and lay the groundwork for companies to reshore their production is to encourage more people to learn skills that are useful in the manufacturing process, he said. 'If you go over to China you can find buildings and buildings of thousands of electronics engineers. If you look here, you can find maybe five total,' Weaver said. Apple, for example, would risk a catastrophe if it suddenly, in 2026, needed to ramp up staffing in the U.S. to produce millions of iPhones, he said. Training enough people for such a massive undertaking would take years. Weaver said Purism, founded in 2014, took several years to develop its domestic supply chain. The company's small size means it only needs limited quantities of components, which makes it impossible to achieve the economies of scale that come from producing huge numbers of devices. Manufacturing in the U.S. also comes with higher labor costs than in China. But with the help of automation, those extra costs can be kept to a minimum by reserving human labor for tasks performed after production is complete, such as soldering, assembly, repairs, and testing. Apple, on the other hand, would need vast amounts of components to keep its assembly line humming. While the company would likely be able to cut deals with domestic suppliers for most iPhone parts, some, such as high-quality cameras, may be impossible to quickly source in the U.S. and it would therefore have to import them, Weaver said. One analyst has said iPhones could end up costing $3,500 if made in the U.S., to account for the extra costs and hassles. Weaver agrees that it would cost Apple substantially more to produce iPhones in the U.S., if it had to move production quickly. But given enough time, Apple could substantially reduce the cost after developing a new supply chain, finding enough workers, and by relying on extensive automation. For Apple, opening a domestic manufacturing plant would therefore need to be a years' long process, Weaver said. That's why he criticized Trump's tariffs for taking effect almost immediately. Yes, many of those tariffs have since been delayed. But the takeaway for businesses is that they can't plan ahead. And yet, that's exactly what's required for something as complex as shifting manufacturing to the U.S. Trump's tariffs would be far more effective if phased in over many years, Weaver said. In that scenario, companies would have a clear and increasing incentive to reshore production—without being punished right off the bat. Weaver argues his U.S. manufacturing effort is already paying off and that it will gain momentum over time. He hopes the recent scandal involving U.S. officials using the chat app Signal to discuss a military strike against Yemen, and then accidentally inviting a journalist to join them, will help lift sales by encouraging the federal government to focus more on security. Weaver wouldn't get into the specifics of Purism's financials other than to say it has millions in annual revenue and turned profitable in 2023. The Liberty Phone is its biggest seller. Wayne Lam, an analyst with market research firm TechInsights, gave a mixed take on Purism's prospect. In an email, he said: 'They can be a successful niche player, but the odds of success are lower thanks to the bigger brands. They won't be able to compete in the consumer market but government/enterprise/military are all niche markets they can address.' To fund the expansion of his business, Weaver is trying to raise additional investment after taking in $16 million in funding over the years. Some of that money would go to fixing a shortcoming with his phones. Because they don't use Apple's iOS or Google's Android operating systems, they are incompatible with many of the most popular mobile apps like Uber. To get such apps work on its devices, Purism must make technical tweaks for each one. Purism can at least claim one small advantage over the giant companies that dominate the smartphone industry. If Trump's tariffs become permanent, it won't feel much impact from its U.S.-made phone, while the big players and their foreign-made devices could be hammered. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Insider
5 hours ago
- Business Insider
Nvidia (NVDA) Rival Huawei Is Struggling to Win Over Customers despite Export Rules
Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang has repeatedly warned about the growing competition from China's Huawei in the AI chip market. But so far, Huawei is struggling to convince China's biggest tech companies to adopt its chips, according to The Information. Indeed, although ByteDance, Alibaba (BABA), and Tencent (TCEHY) are testing Huawei's chips, they haven't placed any large orders yet. This is because the firms still prefer Nvidia's products, despite U.S. export restrictions. While Huawei has sold chips to state-owned companies and local governments, it has yet to make major gains with top private tech firms. Confident Investing Starts Here: One major reason why big Chinese tech firms are hesitant to make the switch is that their data centers and engineering teams are built around Nvidia's CUDA software. Moving to Huawei's ecosystem would require rewriting code, retraining staff, and losing access to tools that have been developed over the past 15 years. Testing has also revealed some problems: Huawei's latest AI chip, the Ascend 910C, often overheats, and its Compute Architecture for Neural Networks software lacks many of CUDA's features. Additionally, Chinese tech firms compete with Huawei in cloud computing, which makes them more cautious about adopting a rival's hardware. It also doesn't help that U.S. warnings about penalties for using Huawei's advanced AI chips have added further risk. In fact, after one such warning, a Chinese data center canceled a planned order of Huawei chips. Nevertheless, Huang continues to monitor Huawei's progress closely. What Is a Good Price for NVDA? Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on NVDA stock based on 35 Buys, four Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average NVDA price target of $172.36 per share implies 21% upside potential.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Rept Battero to supply batteries for Indonesian electric buses
Chinese battery manufacturer Rept Battero Energy Company has signed a supply agreement with PT VKTR Teknologi Mobilitas, the commercial vehicle manufacturing unit of Indonesia's Bakrie & Brothers Group, for up to 3,000 truck and bus battery packs by the end of 2025. Rept Battero's local subsidiary, PT Rept Battero Indonesia, will assemble the lithium-ion battery packs locally to help meet Indonesia's localization rate requirements (TKDN) and help advance zero-emission transportation in the country. The agreement was signed in VKTR's truck and bus plant in Magelang, Central Java, in the presence of Indonesia's Minister of Land Transport and Transportation of Indonesia, and the heads of General Administration of Customs, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, and local government officials. The VKTR plant is focused exclusively on the production of battery-powered commercial vehicles and is equipped with full-process manufacturing capabilities, including chassis assembly, battery assembly, body welding, painting, final assembly, and vehicle testing. The two companies also plan to collaborate on helping to develop Indonesia's battery supply chain, including nickel smelting and production of other battery materials. "Rept Battero to supply batteries for Indonesian electric buses" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
