Lederhosen robot brings AI technology to Munich’s Westend

A humanoid robot dressed in traditional Bavarian clothing has been greeting passers-by, dancing and performing martial arts in Munich’s Westend for two weeks, BR reported. Its owner, who works in the artificial intelligence industry, controls it discreetly from nearby.

The approximately 1.2-metre-tall robot appeared at Bavariapark on the Theresienhöhe at around 11 a.m. wearing a traditional shirt, lederhosen and a hunter’s hat. It greeted a group of children with a carbon-fibre hand, then performed a short dance and several martial arts poses. The children quickly became accustomed to their unusual new playmate.

The robot’s operator, a man in his 40s, stood under a tree at the edge of the square wearing a grey hoodie. He kept both hands in the hoodie’s front pocket, where he had hidden the control panel. The owner wants to remain anonymous because of his work in the AI industry, particularly as the robot has grown more popular through its own Instagram account.

He ordered the robot from Chinese technology company Unitree Robotics in October last year. The R1 model arrived in Germany at the end of July. Because the robot lives in the Westend, about 200 metres from Munich’s Oktoberfest grounds, its owner decided that traditional clothing was the only suitable outfit.

He ordered the trousers online from Pakistan. They are made of thin plastic to prevent the robot from overheating. Cloth shoes protect its rubber coverings from wearing down on the asphalt, as the manufacturer does not yet supply replacement parts.

The robot came with four permanently installed programmes: two dances and a kickboxing routine. Its owner plans to add further programmes of his own, developed with the help of AI. With its built-in cameras and speaker, the robot could eventually move almost autonomously, see and talk.

The owner says he paid the price of a small car for the robot. The five-fingered hands currently available separately would cost about as much as the robot itself.

He takes the humanoid through the Westend to make residents less apprehensive about such machines. He says he wants to show people what technology already exists and what is coming, predicting that robots will eventually deliver parcels, clean streets and provide care services.

Many people react positively. Passers-by and tourists film the robot or take selfies with it, while one cyclist searched the neighbourhood after seeing it on social media. But some residents are sceptical. One older woman fears that using robots in care or childcare could make people lonelier. Another man worries that robots could eventually enter the labour market and take jobs from people.

The robot’s battery lasts only one hour. When it suddenly collapsed onto the pavement, its owner opened the traditional shirt and took a brick-sized battery from his backpack.