U.S. defense agencies funded openly published research by American universities that advanced electric quadruped robots, with Unitree founder Wang Xingxing later citing the research while developing China’s XDog, a precursor to the B1 robot used by the Chinese military.
Wang’s 2016 master’s thesis at Shanghai University discussed design rules developed by MIT’s Biomimetic Robotics Lab and cited direct-drive robot research from the University of Pennsylvania that received U.S. Army support.
The thesis also listed military reconnaissance and terrain survey among possible uses for quadruped robots.
Eight years later, Chinese state media CCTV reported that Chinese troops operated a B1 quadruped during the China–Cambodia Golden Dragon 2024 exercise. A serviceman said it could move ahead of troops for reconnaissance and conduct an assault after detecting an enemy….