Day: February 14, 2024

  • Xiaomi’s Humanoid Drummer Beats Expectations

    Xiaomi’s Humanoid Drummer Beats Expectations

    When Xiaomi announced its CyberOne humanoid robot a couple of months back, it wasn’t entirely clear what the company was actually going to do with the robot. Our guess was that rather than pretending that CyberOne was going to have some sort of practical purpose, Xiaomi would use it as a way of exploring possibilities with technology that may have useful applications elsewhere, but there were no explicit suggestions that there would be any actual research to come out of it. In a nice surprise, Xiaomi roboticists have taught the robot to do something that is, if not exactly useful, at least loud: to play the drums.


    The input for this performance is a MIDI file, which the robot is able to parse into drum beats. It then generates song-length sequences of coordinated whole-body trajectories which are synchronized to the music, which is tricky because the end effectors have to make sure to actuate the drums exactly on the beat. CyberOne does a pretty decent job even when it’s going back and forth across the drum kit. This is perhaps not super cutting-edge humanoid research, but it’s still interesting to see what a company like Xiaomi has been up to. And to that end, we asked Zeyu Ren, a senior hardware engineer at the Xiaomi Robotics Lab, to answer a couple of questions for us.

    IEEE Spectrum: So why is Xiaomi working on a humanoid robot, anyway?

    Zeyu Ren: There are three reasons why Xiaomi is working on humanoid robots. The first reason is that we are seeing a huge decline in the labor force in China, and the world. We are working on replacing the human labor force with humanoid robots even though there is a long way to go. The second reason is that we believe humanoid robots are the most technically challenging of all robot forms. By working on humanoid robots, we can also use this technology to solve problems on other robot forms, such as quadruped robots, robotic arms, and even wheeled robots. The third reason is that Xiaomi wants to be the most technically advanced company in China, and humanoid robots are sexy.

    Why did you choose drumming to demonstrate your research?

    Ren: After the official release of Xiaomi CyberOne on August 11, we got a lot of feedback from the public who didn’t have a background in robotics. They are more interested in seeing humanoid robots doing things that humans cannot easily do. Honestly speaking, it’s pretty difficult to find such scenarios, since we know that the first prototype of CyberOne is far behind humans.

    But one day, one of our engineers who had just begun to play drums suggested that drumming may be an exception. She thought that compared to rookie drummers, humanoid robots have more advantages in hand-foot coordinated motion and rhythmic control. We all thought it was a good idea, and drumming itself is super cool and interesting. So we choose drumming to demonstrate our research.

    What was the most challenging part of this research?

    Ren: The most challenging part of this research was that when receiving the long sequences of drum beats, CyberOne needs to assign sequences to each arm and leg and generate continuous collision-free whole-body trajectories within the hardware constraints. So, we extract the basic beats and build our drum beat motion trajectory library offline by optimization. Then, CyberOne can generate continuous trajectories consistent with any drum score. This approach gives more freedom to CyberOne playing drums, and is only limited by the robotics capability.

    What different things do you hope that this research will help your robot do in the future?

    Ren: Drumming requires CyberOne to coordinate whole-body motions to achieve a fast, accurate, and large range of movement. We first want to find the limit of our robot in terms of hardware and software to provide a reference for the next-generation design. Also, through this research, we have formed a complete set of automatic drumming methods for robots to perform different songs, and this experience also helps us to more quickly realize the development of other musical instruments to be played by robots.

    What are you working on next?

    Ren: We are working on the second generation of CyberOne, and hope to further improve its locomotion and manipulation ability. On the hardware level, we plan to add more degrees of freedom, integrate self-developed dexterous hands, and add more sensors. On the software level, more robust control algorithms for locomotion and vision will be developed.

  • All the latest updates in one place

    All the latest updates in one place

    Welcome to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 update hub. Here you’ll find the latest information on updates to the large foldable. We’ll detail the current software version for the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and alert you if there’s a new update rolling out. Samsung’s update release schedule usually varies slightly per variant and carrier.

    The Galaxy Z Fold 4 launched with Android 12L and One UI 4.1.1. Samsung will offer four major Android OS updates and five years of security patches for the device.

    • Current stable version: Android 13
    • When will the Galaxy Z Fold 4 get Android 14? November or December 2023 (Estimated)

    Latest Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 update

    December 6, 2022: Owners of AT&T carrier unlocked models of Galaxy Z Fold 4 in the US can start updating their phones with Samsung’s December security patch. According to Android Police, the update comes with firmware version F936U1UEU1BVKB and addresses 60 high risk vulnerabilities, five common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVE), and 13 Galaxy-specific vulnerabilities.

    To check if the update is available for your device, head to Settings > Software update and tap on Download and install.

    Previous Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 updates

    • November 11, 2022: Unlocked versions of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 have started to receive the stable Android 13 update which comes with Samsung’s One UI 5 software. The update brings all the Android 13 features, adds the November 2022 security patch, and brings some exclusive Samsung features such as stackable widgets, Bixby Text Call, Maintainance mode, and more. The catch is that the update is currently going out only to those who beta-tested the software. However, it should reach regular users soon. The update carries firmware version BVK3.
    • October 20, 2022: Owners in Isreal can now download the October security update for the Galaxy Z Fold 4, according to SamMobile. The new update will bring firmware version F936USQS1AVII to the Fold 4 and fix over 47 privacy and security vulnerabilities. The update should reach other markets in the near future.
    • September 30, 2022: It’s taken longer than expected, but Samsung has finally brought the September 2022 security patch to the Galaxy Z Fold 4. Android Headlines reports that the update bears firmware version number F936NKSU1AVIG. The update is reportedly available in Samsung’s home market of Korea and in several other Asian countries. There’s no word on availability in other markets but you should be getting the patch in the coming days.
    • September 1, 2022: Samsung reportedly had a day-one patch available for Fold 4 owners (h/t: SamMobile). This update was 370MB in size and apparently brought performance fixes, general bug fixes, and stability improvements.
    • November 8, 2022: Unlocked versions of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 started to receive November’s security patch (via SamMobile). Locked models also received it later. The new update comes with firmware version F936U1UES1AVJ1 and fixes various privacy and security vulnerabilities.

    What Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 update are you running? Let us know in the comments. Also, if you’ve spotted an OTA that we haven’t, tip us!