Humanoid robot opens the way to studies in extreme climates from the highest peak in Ecuador

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“When we launched the project they called us crazy,” Pablo Berlanga, a 23-year-old Spanish engineer and founder, along with Ecuadorian Titania Freire, of the non-profit conservation organization ‘Geologic Dome’, tells EFE.

“No one wanted to give us a robot, no one” for fear of a bad brand image if the humanoid fell or failed in extreme weather conditions, he says. Finally, the Eastworlds firm donated a robot from the Chinese company Unitree.

They called him Pemba José. Pemba (Saturday, in Sherpa), because “he was born that day”, and José, because it is a common name in Ecuador.

Made of high-strength aluminum and carbon fiber, about 132 centimeters high, 35 kilograms in weight and dozens of joints, Pemba José has three cameras: normal, infrared and ‘LiDAR’, which makes precise three-dimensional reconstructions of the environment.

The LiDAR camera measures distances through laser beams and, despite fears that snow would affect its operation, preliminary analyzes show good data collection to monitor and study glaciers and rivers.

They also want to digitally define robot access routes for future research.

Crowning Chimborazo was a mix of science and adventure, as the robot himself tells EFE: “The most difficult thing was the altitude and the extreme weather.”

“I saw spectacular landscapes, glaciers and the curvature of the Earth,” he said.

“My cameras captured a lot of data for science,” such as changes in temperature, atmospheric pressure and others that will be used to monitor endangered animals, deforestation, glaciers and water reserves.

Oswaldo Freire (Ossi), a mountain guide, with several “eight miles” and more than one hundred ascents of Chimborazo, was part of the humanoid’s ‘proof of concept’ to study the capabilities of its cameras to withstand extreme conditions and also be able to use them with artificial intelligence (AI).

One of the “scares” of the mission arose hours before the ascent because “the robot was drunk,” until robotics experts removed a small plastic piece, used to prevent sudden movements during transfers. With that out, “it was like seeing the robot with a new life,” Berlanga said.

Freire told EFE that, for now, The robot walks well up slopes of 35 degrees, so 80% of the climb was loaded, but it “danced at the top”from where – connected through Starlink – he made a live broadcast and answered questions.

“I have traces from the adventure, but they don’t hurt me,” said Pemba José about marks caused by the extreme weather and falls while breaking the “world record” of a robot by exceeding 6,000 meters.

The project – supported in Ecuador by the Chimborazo Reserve – was a “total success”, and already offers information partially open to the public.

Berlanga hopes to take it this year to the Cotopaxi volcano (5,897 meters above sea level), neighboring Chimborazo, or to Mauna Kea (Hawaii).

But the great objective is Everest, which they could not access because Nepal does not have legislation that allows it, but they trust that having safely summited Chimborazo will open the way to reach the “roof of the world.”