The Chinese humanoid robot surprised with its stability and advanced control

In a newly released video, the PM01 robot continues to move even after being deliberately thrown off balance, thus demonstrating its high stability and fast recovery control.

This humanoid robot absorbs external forces, adjusts its body position in real time, and recovers its rhythm within a few seconds; This shows the precise coordination between sensors, operators and control algorithms.

The robot is also seen performing a controlled backflip, performing this maneuver with coordinated arm swing, core body stabilization, and precise landing mechanics. The forward backstroke is generally more difficult for humans and robots than the backward backstroke.

Forward rotation shifts the body weight forward of the fulcrum, making balance control more difficult and the landing more unstable. On the other hand, the back facing backwards keeps the center of mass more aligned and allows for a stronger thrust of the legs at the moment of take-off and a more effective correction of the body position in mid-air.

According to experts, shorter humanoids like the PM01 have a lower center of mass, which reduces the risk of tipping over and requires less rotational torque to complete the maneuver. Their compact structure also helps distribute impact forces more efficiently. In contrast, full-length mannequins experience more mechanical stress during landing and therefore require more powerful actuators, reinforced joints, and a stronger structural design to absorb shock and maintain stability.

In another sequence, PM01 lies arched and face-up on the floor, then gently returns to a standing position. This movement is very similar to the way a human uses to lean, transfer weight and get off the ground.

PM01 is designed for researchers who seek to integrate humanoid capabilities with advanced robotics. This robot has a highly interactive central display, a bionic structure that mimics natural human movement, and the ability to rotate 320 degrees at the waist. Utilizing a durable aluminum alloy exoskeleton, this system combines strength with a lightweight structure to improve agility and resilience.

Compared to EngineAI’s full-length flagship SE01, the PM01 robot is 27cm shorter and 8kg lighter. SE01 has a height of 1.38 meters and a weight of 40 kg, thus PM01 is introduced as a more compact alternative for research and development environments.

EngineAI demo videos highlight the PM01’s advanced visual perception powered by the Intel RealSense depth camera. The robot’s dual-chip architecture includes Nvidia Jetson Orion and Intel N97, which enables high-performance computing for complex tasks and real-time AI workloads.

In the small humanoid segment, the PM01 competes with the likes of the Unitree G1 and the Booster T1. The PM01 offers smooth motion with 24 degrees of freedom, including 12 degrees of freedom in its articulated motors, surpassing the T1 in number of degrees of freedom with 23 degrees of freedom, providing powerful base performance, while the G1 can have up to 43 degrees of freedom. This robot moves at a speed of up to 2 m/s, which is higher than the speed of 1.2 m/s T1.