News: 0180058570

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Russia's AI Robot Falls Seconds After Being Unveiled

(Wednesday November 12, 2025 @10:30PM (BeauHD) from the slow-clap dept.)


Russia's first AI humanoid robot, Aldol, [1]fell just seconds after its debut at a technology event in Moscow on Tuesday. "The robot was being led on stage to the soundtrack from the film 'Rocky,' before it suddenly lost its balance and fell," reports the BBC. "Assistants could then be seen scrambling to cover it with a cloth -- which ended up tangling in the process." Developers of Aldol blamed poor lighting and calibration issues for the collapse, saying the robot's stereo cameras are sensitive to light and the hall was dark.



[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/crre8g5e45jo



So, Adol got an F in its report card (Score:2)

by williamyf ( 227051 )

Because it fell to the floor a short while after being unveiled, so, if the teacher in the "humanoid robot classroom" were reading the grades outloud would say: "Adol, F"

Re: (Score:2)

by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 )

Today, the robot fell.

Tomorrow, I imagine its main developers are likely to fall out of some windows.

in soviet russia we fail you! (Score:2)

by Joe_Dragon ( 2206452 )

in soviet russia we fail you!

Re: (Score:2)

by registrations_suck ( 1075251 )

Russia isn't Soviet anymore.

Has not been in a long time.

What? (Score:2)

by SeaFox ( 739806 )

> Developers of Aldol blamed poor lighting and calibration issues for the collapse, saying the robot's stereo cameras are sensitive to light and the hall was dark.

Wouldn't sensitive cameras be what you want in the case of navigating an environment in low lighting?

Also, have they heard of LiDAR?

Re: (Score:2)

by nikkipolya ( 718326 )

Oh, he meant the cameras are emotionally sensitive. it's the fear of the dark that got them.

Re: (Score:2)

by SchroedingersCat ( 583063 )

Training data had too many drunk russians. The robot performed as designed.

YT Link (Score:2)

by Kunedog ( 1033226 )

[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyfCLRkXKYs

Re: YT Link (Score:2)

by commodore73 ( 967172 )

I don't see lighting being a factor in this fall. It doesn't seem to walk well. Has everyone seen how the current generations interact with mirrors? Not good.

Re: (Score:2)

by nikkipolya ( 718326 )

Well, they said that about Putin too. That he isn't walking well, he is twitching while seated and what not. But he has been doing fine all along. Aldol will be fine too, unless it and its creators fall out of a window next.

Razor Ramon (Score:2)

by Kunedog ( 1033226 )

Gave me flashbacks of Scott Hall's infamous night:

[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V92Cdjmi4QI#t=811

Testing? (Score:2)

by dwater ( 72834 )

I'd've thought they would test it in the exact conditions it would be demonstrated in...before exposing it to the potential ridicule of the rabid western press, who look to criticise at any small thing...especially if it is anti-russia.

Re: Testing? (Score:1)

by blue trane ( 110704 )

What if it got stage fright?

Re: (Score:2)

by nikkipolya ( 718326 )

That's what the engineers meant, when they said, "the cameras are very sensitive". They really meant, "Aldol is very sensitive."

Re: (Score:2)

by gweihir ( 88907 )

Naa, that would have been competent. AI people do not do competent. The ones that did renamed their occupation to other things, like cognitive systems, automated reasoning, robotics, etc. The ones that still claim to be doing "AI" are the hacks that are in it for the money.

Re: (Score:2)

by timeOday ( 582209 )

Sounds easy, but [1]Musk [youtube.com] has been there, [2]Jobs [youtube.com] has been there, [3]Gates [youtu.be] has been there...

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udxR5rBq_Vg

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znxQOPFg2mo

[3] https://youtu.be/yeUyxjLhAxU?t=15

Almost a major advance (Score:2)

by dsgrntlxmply ( 610492 )

It is nearly as capable as Tim Conway's Oldest Man character on Carol Burnett: [1]Clock Repair [youtu.be]

[1] https://youtu.be/0Dl4LihnDR8?si=mTUkJeQthIyZr-yS

Backstage problems (Score:3)

by ukoda ( 537183 )

Looks to me like it had been drinking vodka backstage.

Stereo trips (Score:1)

by kurt_cordial ( 6208254 )

Deny your collective consciousness a human factor. Zoho did that in the 80s.

Amateurs (Score:3)

by gweihir ( 88907 )

The proper way to do this is 1) fake it and 2) when queried, lie about it. I mean, this has been the traditional approach in all things AI and at least the LLM pushers know how to do it. I would have thought that Russians, off all people, understand this approach in a more general way. Apparently not. Some people will probably get an extensive "vacation" sponsored by the state now.

Re: (Score:1)

by ndsurvivor ( 891239 )

I thought Musk did a similar thing... Fake it, or maybe just had the robot remote controlled. In any case, Musks robots seemed to be a flop too.

Re: (Score:2)

by quantaman ( 517394 )

> I thought Musk did a similar thing... Fake it, or maybe just had the robot remote controlled. In any case, Musks robots seemed to be a flop too.

So fake it until they give you a $1T pay package.

Re: (Score:2)

by quantaman ( 517394 )

> The proper way to do this is 1) fake it and 2) when queried, lie about it. I mean, this has been the traditional approach in all things AI and at least the LLM pushers know how to do it. I would have thought that Russians, off all people, understand this approach in a more general way. Apparently not. Some people will probably get an extensive "vacation" sponsored by the state now.

They did fake it. The "robot" was a guy in a robot suit, unfortunately, the guy in the robot suit got completely shitfaced.

keeps walking (Score:2)

by awwshit ( 6214476 )

Falls down and keeps walking, determined to complete the task. I guess it never falls on its back, so the power switch on the back is always easy to reach.

Designed for defenestration (Score:2)

by algaeman ( 600564 )

A little tumble like this is not going to stop Aldol. It's designed to be thrown through a window down an eight-story elevator shaft, and land on 6-8 bullets. All to protect a miniature giraffe. Opulence, Aldol has it.

that's why you have dress rehersals (Score:2)

by pz ( 113803 )

Sheesh, talk about a rookie mistake.

Dress rehearsals are intended to be a run-through under full production, not dev, conditions. You hope and pray you never discover problems during dress rehearsals, but they exist for a reason.

Wow (Score:2)

by RitchCraft ( 6454710 )

How the mighty have fallen.

Re: (Score:2)

by Tailhook ( 98486 )

It was always a Potemkin village.

why is it called Russia's robot? (Score:2)

by diffract ( 7165501 )

You don't call a Tesla robot an American robot

Re: (Score:2)

by thesjaakspoiler ( 4782965 )

EU indoctrination that tries to make you believe that everything Russia is bad.

Don't know (Score:1)

by Iamthecheese ( 1264298 )

All I can tell from this video is they're trying new things which, in this era of technology, is a good thing. It seems like it's missing what in humans would be called reflexes.

Theme from Rocky? (Score:1)

by innocent_white_lamb ( 151825 )

Why would they be using the theme from Rocky for this?

It's appropriate in some ways, but it's also an American song.

Wouldn't you want to use Russian music of some kind for a Russian event intended to show off Russian technology?

There was a college student trying to earn some pocket money by
going from house to house offering to do odd jobs. He explained this to
a man who answered one door.
"How much will you charge to paint my porch?" asked the man.
"Forty dollars."
"Fine" said the man, and gave the student the paint and brushes.
Three hours later the paint-splattered lad knocked on the door again.
"All done!", he says, and collects his money. "By the way," the student says,
"That's not a Porsche, it's a Ferrari."