Robotera L7 Humanoid Robot Just Wielded a Sword Like it was Born for the Blade Ahead of Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year 2026 brought the Year of the Fire Horse, the ideal opportunity for Beijing-based Robotera to showcase their humanoid L7 robot in a full-fledged sword dance routine. Robotera engineers have been working with Tsinghua University on the L7 since its debut in mid-2025, and they’ve programmed it to capture the spirit of legendary swordplay, drawing heavily from the fictional Dugu Nine Swords style, which Chinese outlets have nicknamed the robot after wuxia hero Linghu Chong.

The L7 is a 171 cm tall, 65 kg robot with a lightweight build constructed of titanium and carbon fiber, complete with tons of flexibility. The developers at Robotera have given it 55 degrees of freedom over its body, with each arm having 7 and the hands having a full 12 degrees of freedom between them, allowing for some really delicate control. With that configuration, the robot can swing a sword without flinching, even when swiftly changing direction.

Unitree G1 Humanoid Robot（No Secondary Development）

• Height, width and thickness (standing): 1270x450x200mm Height, width and thickness (folded): 690x450x300mm Weight with battery: approx. 35kg
• Total freedom (joint motor): 23 Freedom of one leg: 6 Waist Freedom: 1 Freedom of one arm: 5
• Maximum knee torque: 90N.m Maximum arm load: 2kg Calf + thigh length: 0.6m Arm arm span: approx. 0.45m Extra large joint movement space Lumbar Z-axis…

The robot begins by standing still in a courtyard, sword firmly in hand, before swaying into action when the music plays some traditional beats. The L7 then takes a stride forward, its wrist flipping furiously as the blade slices through the air in neat arcs, followed by thrusting, quick, direct motions that come to a halt at full extension. Before you know it, the monster is leaping into the air, flipping its legs, and swinging the sword overhead in precise arcs. Twirls follow, and you have to give credit to the engineers; the robot moves like a pro, with no signs of its limbs becoming caught in the blade or anything.

Through it all, the item remains perfectly balanced. When it rotates around, its feet plant and pivot with deadly precision. High-speed slashes are combined up with slower, more careful strokes, demonstrating its variety of motion. The blade whips down to the ground one minute, then slashing up high in a superb overhead cut. Jumps land cleanly, with no wobbles or stumbles, as it accelerates and increases until it comes to a rest with the sword extended.

This type of agility was also demonstrated in previous demos in which the L7 attempted breakdancing and 360-degree spin jumps, but sword work necessitates even tighter coordination, as the thing must match the swing of the sword to the beat of the music while keeping its entire body stable. It does it so seamlessly that the hands can alter their hold in mid-motion, with no slippage.

The L7 is intended for real-world application, not as showpieces. It can reach speeds of up to 4 m/s and can even handle logistics or service roles thanks to its built-in AI, but these festive displays demonstrate just how far we’ve come with embodied control, as every leap and swing of the sword demonstrates that the hardware and software can replicate fluid human motion in some pretty demanding sequences.