Unitree prototype humanoid claims a 2-meter jump and 12.66 m/s top speed

A humanoid robot drops from a 2-meter standing jump, lands upright and then claims a top speed of 12.66 meters per second. That is the scene Unitree Robotics has put online for its new machine, dubbed “Superman,” a prototype developed in slightly over three months.

The figures are designed to make comparison easy. Unitree’s claimed speed is above the 12.42 m/s peak recorded by Usain Bolt during his 2009 100-meter world-record run. The robot’s reported jump also exceeds the human record of 1.8 meters. It does so with legs just 0.85 meters long, according to the company.

There is a clear limit to the claim. The numbers come from a Unitree demonstration video and have not been independently verified. The company itself says the hardware still has significant room for improvement. Unitree’s earlier H1 humanoid reached 10.1 meters per second on an athletics track, although the company noted that measurement errors were possible.

The point of these extreme tests is not only speed. Industry analyst Ma Jihua described high-speed running and jumping as “stress tests” for a robot’s hardware, software, balance and whole-body coordination. A machine that can control its body during violent acceleration, takeoff and landing may eventually be better prepared for difficult terrain, disaster response and other hazardous environments.

So what changes in practice? Not yet a dependable worker in the field. Experts say performance records alone do not guarantee deployment; reliability, stability and real-world adaptability still need to improve. But the demonstration shows Unitree testing the boundaries of humanoid movement.