Dancing, boxing: All in a day's work for robots at Abu Dhabi Autonomous Week

Talk about cuteness overload!

At Abu Dhabi Autonomous Week, which runs until Nov 15 at Yas Marina Circuit, robots and humans walked side by side – like a sci-fi movie come to life.

Some of these automations sparred, some did deliveries, and others were all about dancing. And not just any dancing. These robots, dressed in Emirati headgear — the ghutrah — walked around the futuristic forum dancing the traditional Arabic dance for men, Ayyalah, and while other (human) dancers joined in with their sticks and sang along. (They apparently also have hip-hop moves; think Step Up series, but in metal.)

These metallic men, constructed by Chinese firm Booster Robotics, are sold at prices starting at $5,999 (Dh22,031). They come in three configurations: Geek, Education and Professional.

The ‘Emiratised’ robots then walked along the streets as onlookers stopped, started, and took a bunch of photos for their channels.

The smaller model, the Booster K1, is the champion model of the 2025 RoboCup Soccer "KidSize" category. And the ‘grown-up’ version is called Booster T1, available in the models: Basic, Standard and Customised. You can see both strutting their stuff at Abu Dhabi Autonomous Week.

Booster Robotics launched in 2023, and has since worked diligently “to promote productivity change by creating humanoid robot products and uniting global developers. Our early strategy is oriented towards scientific research and education scenarios.”