China’s Robotera has released a new video showcasing its L7 robot performing a traditional Chinese sword dance. Released to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Fire Horse, the video is not just a celebration, but a way to show off the robot’s impressive capabilities.

The L7, in case you are unaware, is a full-sized humanoid robot developed in collaboration with Tsinghua University. It stands at 5.6 feet (171 cm) tall and weighs in at around 143.3 pounds (65 kg).

The robot is made of a combination of titanium and carbon fiber, making it both strong and lightweight. It also comes with a total of 55 independently moving joints, offering an impressive degree of freedom (DoF).

According to Robotera, each of the robot’s arms features 7 such joints, with its hands having 12 combined. It also features 2 DoF per leg, 6 in its waist, and 6 in its waist area.

Dancing to impress

This allows the robot to perform motions like arm rotation, wrist flipping, and grip adjustment. And this new video showcases these abilities perfectly. A sword dance of this kind is not just about “swinging something around.”

It requires a combination of full-body control, attention to timing and rhythm, and high-speed directional changes. Such dances require the robot to land stably after jumps. and coordinate wrist and finger control.

It also requires that the dancer, in this case the robot, doesn’t hit itself with the blade. This last issue is especially important, for obvious reasons.

To maintain all this, the robot’s control systems must continuously calculate its center of mass. It also needs to calculate things like the inertia from the sword swing, joint torque limits, and foot-ground contact forces.

So, when a robot jumps and lands cleanly without wobbles, it means its real-time feedback loops are extremely tight. This is all possible not just thanks to its fine motor capabilities, but also its embedded artificial intelligence (AI) control system.

This AI provides the robot with whole-body dynamic coordination and real-time motion planning. It also provides precise torque control and multi-axis balance during high-speed movement.

L7: not just swordplay

Beyond this impressive show of the L7’s abilities, the new video is also something of a sales pitch to potential buyers. The robot is designed for real-world applications, like working in factories.

It is capable of reaching speeds of 9 mph (4 m/s) and can handle various logistical tasks or service roles. The L7 can lift weights of up to 44 pounds (20 kg), has 360 degrees field of view, an arm span of 6.9 feet (2.1 meters), and can be teleoperated.

While the sword dance makes for striking viewing, the real story lies beneath the spectacle. Robotera’s L7 is less about theatrics and more about demonstrating mature embodied control in a full-sized humanoid platform.

If it can coordinate leaps, spins, and blade work this precisely, the transition to factory floors and service roles may be closer than many expect.