The seven-day World Robot Conference 2023 was held from August 16 to 23 in Beijing, featuring around 160 robot enterprises from around the world. These companies showcased nearly 600 robots, with 60 of them making their global debut at the event. Humanoid robots with the appearance of China’s Tang Dynasty (618-907) poets Li Bai and Du Fu were a hit at the Conference. “Their bodies and expressions look natural. They simulate the voices and actions of real people and interact with the audience. They have already been utilized in many fields including culture, tourism and education,” said Zheng Yaxin, Executive with EX Robots. Xin Guobin, Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology, said that “the robot industry represents advanced manufacturing and is leading human society into an intelligent era, boosting world economic development and improving the well-being of mankind.”
China’s robot industry maintained steady expansion in the first half of the year. The output of industrial robots reached 222,000 units, an increase of 5.4% year-on-year, while the production of service robots amounted to 3.53 million units, up 9.6% from a year ago, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). In 2022, the operating income of China’s robot industry exceeded CNY170 billion. The International Federation of Robotics announced that the global installed capacity of industrial robots in 2022 registered a record high of 531,000 units. The economies in North America, Asia and Europe have integrated robots into social life, demonstrating their remarkable vitality.
In the exhibition area of Realman Intelligent Technology (Beijing) Co at the WRC, many visitors experienced a robot massage, which relaxes back and shoulder muscles. “The robot’s visual sensor can identify people’s physical characteristics. It then uses this information to generate the massage trajectory. With proper control of pressure and temperature, the robot arm conducts the massage,” said Chao Jiaqi, Marketing Director of Realman Intelligent Technology (Beijing). Chao added: “Realman has suppliers and distributors in many countries including Germany, Japan and the United States. We also have close cooperative relations with Sony and Siemens.”
Chee Fai Tan, President of the ASEAN Confederation of Smart Industry, said that robots can carry out high-precision work while simultaneously improving productivity. They have been widely applied in manufacturing and agriculture to aid the lives of many people. A multi-arm fruit-picking robot was also eye-catching at the WRC, which enabled the audience to have a direct understanding of modern and intelligent agricultural development. “The robot arm and fruit-picking devices are capable of automatically picking and storing 400 to 500 pieces of fruit per hour. To enhance efficiency, it works round the clock and can minimize fruit damage significantly,” said Li Tao, a staffer with the research project of the multi-arm fruit-picking robot. The robot, which has been used in Beijing and Shandong province, will be exported to overseas markets like the United States and Australia, Li noted.
Swiss technology and engineering firm ABB Group showcased its collaborative robot arm at the conference. Du Haiquan, Sales Consultant with ABB, said: “China has huge market potential. The ABB factory in Shanghai is set to provide quality products with advanced technologies for the Chinese market and the Asian-Pacific region.”
One humanoid robot in the spotlight at the conference was the Unitree H1, a 1.8-meter-tall, 47-kilogram laser-radar-equipped humanoid that can move over 1.5 meters per second. Its maximum knee joint torque reaches 360 newton meters and each leg has five degrees of freedom, according to Unitree Robotics, a Hangzhou-based robotics startup whose machines were featured at the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and the pre-game performance of Super Bowl LVII in 2023. A demo clip played at the booth showed that the lanky, futuristic robot was capable of restoring balance within two steps in the wake of an abrupt kick and could even slightly sidestep in advance after sensing a human’s foot-lifting intention. Unitree H1 has even impressed tech industry leaders, with Andrej Karpathy, a founding member at OpenAI, developer of ChatGPT, tweeting, “I want one. Or two. A few.”
CyberOne, an emotion-detecting humanoid robot developed by Xiaomi, the renowned Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer, was also a magnet at the just-concluded WRC. Measuring 170 centimeters and weighing 52 kg, it supports up to 21 degrees of freedom of motion and achieves a real-time response speed that allows the simulation of human movements. “Humanoids can integrate the functions of multiple single-purpose devices like mechanical arms,” said Shao Yuanxin, Xiaomi’s Project Manager. “Cyber-One is expected to be used in Xiaomi’s smart manufacturing.”
A group of humanoids with extremely flexible joints performed the complex Chinese choreography of “Thousand-Hand Bodhisattva” at the 2023 World Artificial Intelligence Conference held in Shanghai last month. At this year’s WRC, the developer, Dataa Robotics, programmed the Cloud Ginger robots to play basketball, and, true to the humans they emulate, some of their shots missed the basket. Tora, an artificial intelligence-driven robot developed by PaXini Tech, showcased its strength and tactile senses. The “sensitive” machine can feel the shape, temperature, rigidity and roughness of an object. Its tailored editions have already been used in sorting cargo, hotel service and elderly care, according to the Shenzhen-based startup. Rounding out the big hitters at this year’s show were Ubtech’s panda robot Wukong from Zhejiang University and Xiaobei from the China Electronics Technology Group Corp.
Following the market frenzy surrounding robotic dogs, Chinese investors have eagerly shifted their focus to humanoids over the past two years. According to industry projections, the burgeoning humanoid market is poised to skyrocket to about CNY75 billion by 2025. Supported by increasingly powerful AI capabilities, humanoids are becoming smarter. However, their affordability is a challenge for quick market applications, according to analysts.
