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Army Humanoid Robot Salutes Lula During Independence Day Parade

The appearance served as a public showcase of IME’s AI and robotics work and may point to how research platforms feed military technology development.

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O casal presidencial é saudado pelo robô do Exército.
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Overview

  • The IME-owned humanoid robot saluted President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during the 7 de Setembro parade in Brasília on Monday and its gesture quickly drew wide attention online.
  • The robot is property of the Instituto Militar de Engenharia, which opened a Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence in 2024 to run research and train specialists in robotics, cybernetics and related fields.
  • Mounted on an Army Marruá vehicle, the camouflaged humanoid passed the presidential stand, prompted a smiling return salute from First Lady Janja, and was shown as part of the parade’s technology and capabilities segment.
  • Separately, the 2nd Railway Battalion displayed a remotely operated bomb‑disposal robot intended for inspection and handling of explosive devices to reduce personnel risk during ordnance tasks.
  • Reporting identified the humanoid as a commercially available Unitree G1 model sold for about R$194,000, and the Army said the IME uses the platform for teaching and algorithm development rather than for direct operational deployment.