Counterintuitive Tech Bet: Why Unitree Abandoned Hydraulics for Direct Drive Motors
yangyi · x · 2026-08-10
While the global quadruped robot industry followed Boston Dynamics' hydraulic route—which was heavy, expensive, and commercially unviable—Unitree's founder made a contrarian bet as a grad student: hydraulics couldn't be commercialized, so they should use outer rotor brushless direct drive motors. Despite academic skepticism, he decided to prototype it himself.
Related event: Unitree's Early History: From a 200 RMB Dorm Robot to a 2M Angel Investment(6 posts)→
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