Working hard on a new journey | The 'pace' of humanoid robots is accelerating

As a master of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, high-end manufacturing, and new materials, humanoid robots have always been the protagonists of many science fiction movies, carrying humankind's longing for the future technological world. Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Guiding Opinions on the Innovation and Development of Humanoid Robots", proposing a series of development goals. According to the opinion, by 2025, my country's humanoid robot innovation system will be initially established, a number of key technologies such as "brain, cerebellum, and limbs" will achieve breakthroughs, and the complete machine product will reach the international advanced level and mass production will be achieved.

Currently, humanoid robot technology is accelerating its evolution and has become a new highland for technological competition, a new track for future industries, and a new engine for economic development. In recent years, domestic humanoid robots have grown from scratch, with technological achievements emerging one after another, application scenarios continuing to expand, and the localization of core components accelerating, gradually moving towards more advanced and intelligent directions.

Not only can its "limbs" be developed, but it can also perceive human semantics and release more technical achievements

Humanoid robots specifically refer to robots designed and manufactured to imitate human form and behavior. In the robot industry, which is known as "the crown jewel of the manufacturing industry", humanoid robots have become the "pearl of pearls" due to their complex structural components and ultra-high technical difficulty. Our country started late in the field of humanoid robots, but its development speed is very rapid. At the 2023 World Robot Conference held in August this year, many domestic humanoid robots made stunning appearances. Industry insiders say this is the robot conference with the most complete and largest presentation of humanoid robots in recent years.

When it comes to domestic humanoid robots, many people will never forget the scene at the closing ceremony of this year’s Chengdu Universiade: a large humanoid robot expertly rode a balance bike and quickly entered the scene, waving its arms to the music together with the actors on the stage; , several panda robots with "human bodies" but a "panda head" gracefully appeared on the stage, giving wonderful performances to the audience. These robots are all independently developed by Chinese companies and contain many of the top technologies in China's artificial intelligence and intelligent humanoid robot industries.

In recent years, many companies have emerged in the field of humanoid robots in China, and Hangzhou Yushu Technology Co., Ltd. is one of them. As a national key specialized and new enterprise, the company is located in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. This year, the company released its first general-purpose humanoid robot, the Unitree H1. This guy, who is 1.8 meters tall and weighs 47kg, is completely black. His pace is comparable to that of an adult, but more importantly, he can run in small steps, making him the first full-size universal humanoid robot in China that can run.

Yushu Technology itself is an enterprise mainly engaged in the research and development and manufacturing of quadruped robots. At this year's 19th Asian Games, the "Asian Games Robot Dog" developed by Yushu Technology successfully attracted the attention of many spectators as soon as it appeared on the field. During the competition, it conscientiously took on the "field management" work, demonstrating the technological style of this Asian Games.

From four-legged "robot dogs" to humanoid robots, behind this breakthrough is the result of Yushu Technology's years of deep cultivation and continuous innovation in the field of robotics. Based on the idea of ​​keeping core technology in its own hands, Yushu Technology has now achieved complete independent research and development of the core components of its quadruped robot products. According to the relevant person in charge of Yushu Technology, the humanoid robot Unitree H1 launched this time uses or draws on the company’s previous accumulated technology in quadruped robots in important components such as joint motors, electronic control systems, and control algorithms.

In addition to Yushu Technology, Xiaomi Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xiaomi"), which has been focusing on the research and development and production of intelligent equipment, also released the first "full-size humanoid bionic robot" CyberOne last year, also known as "Tieda". Tieda is 1.77 meters tall, has strong limbs and sensitive nerves: he can perceive 45 kinds of human semantic emotions and distinguish 85 kinds of environmental semantics. Under the hard training of R&D personnel, "Tieda" even learned to play the drum.

In the Avatar Robot R&D Center of China (Nanjing) Software Valley, Yuhuatai District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, staff are debugging the humanoid robot of the Avatar kindergarten teaching version. The robot has many functions such as natural language dialogue and touch sensing. Photo by Yang Bo

Xiaomi has begun exploring the field of humanoid robots since 2020, and has established a robot research and development system with hundreds of people in the past three years. Zeng Xuezhong, senior vice president of Xiaomi Group, said that the reason for getting involved in the field of humanoid robots is that humanoid robots are the intersection of the three core capabilities of technology, manufacturing and service, and are also the commanding heights of the integration of software, hardware and artificial intelligence technology. In the era of Industry 4.0, humanoid robots will play a huge role in promoting the upgrading of manufacturing and service industries. Senior hardware engineers at Xiaomi Robotics Lab believe that among all robot forms, humanoid robots are the most technically challenging. By researching humanoid robots, Xiaomi can also use this technology to solve problems in the form of other robots

In addition to related companies, there are also a few humanoid robots launched in recent years: Zhejiang University's "Wukong", Beijing Institute of Technology's "Huitong" robot, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences' "Pioneer" robot, etc. The emergence of these achievements demonstrates the results of my country's active exploration and technological progress in the field of robotics

The realization of more application scenarios can not only become a good assistant in industrial production, but also become a new type of employee in the service industry

Wang Jin, Assistant Dean of the Zhejiang University Robotics Research Institute, said that the original intention of creating humanoid robots was to help humans complete repetitive, boring and dangerous tasks. In recent years, some humanoid robots or partially humanoid robots have gradually entered daily life from laboratories and are used in fields such as intelligent manufacturing and commercial services.

Yongkang City, Zhejiang Province is an important thermos cup manufacturing base in China. About 600 million thermos cups are produced here every year and sold all over the world. There are many manufacturing processes for thermos cups, which are highly dependent on labor and make quality control difficult. In recent years, robots have been widely used in quality inspection and testing of thermos cup products, flexible production, and handling of special-shaped products, improving the production efficiency and product quality of the industry

For thermos cups, "drip" is an important quality issue. In the past, the detection of "drip" problems relied on manual inspection, but now, in the local thermos cup production workshop, the robot stretches out its arm and "sucks" the thermos cups from the production line through the suction cup on its palm, taking an average of 5 seconds. It can detect whether there is a dripping problem in a thermos cup with just one clock.

The manufacturer of the robot said: "If there is a small damage to the thermos cup, it is difficult to detect it manually alone, because it is impossible for workers to pour water into each thermos cup to detect it. Finally, we thought of By detecting air pressure to detect dripping, a robot with a 'suction cup hand' was designed and built. If the thermos cup is damaged, the robot's palm cannot reach the set air pressure when sucking the product, and it will not be able to suck successfully. At the same time, the 'suction cup hand' also The simulated human body is designed to be flexible to prevent metal materials from 'scratching' the cup body."

In addition to applications in the industrial field, the application of humanoid robots in the service field is also gradually increasing. At the Xiaoshan Robot Exhibition Center in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, a humanoid robot named "Xiao Luo" is very popular. As the star receptionist here, it has an anthropomorphic design and body language, and is equipped with voice recognition technology and emotion recognition technology. It can smoothly communicate with visitors and provide personalized suggestions based on visitors' questions. In addition to serving as an exhibition hall receptionist, the versatile "Ronaldo" can also "serve" at ceremonies, large-scale exhibitions, weddings and other occasions, hosting or performing programs for everyone.

It is said that human beings are the most exquisite works of nature. Just as humans can perform many different jobs and perform various complex movements, in fact, compared with traditional robot equipment such as quadruped robots and mechanical arms, humanoid robots have Greater versatility. A humanoid robot can replace a variety of single-function devices and can also be used in a variety of production and life scenarios.

In Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, there is a humanoid robot called "Xiao Le", which is playing the piano. This image was provided by Yan Mindong from Zhijiang Laboratory

During the 19th Asian Games held this year, the humanoid bionic robot "Xiao Le" played the official theme song of the Hangzhou Asian Games "Together with Love". According to the R&D team of "Xiao Le", the purpose of developing "Xiao Le" to play piano is not to enter the field of music, but to develop a high-performance dual-arm robot system that can simulate human speed, strength and emotion to play. development of related industries. At present, many companies and restaurants have purchased or leased "Xiao Le" to develop their new professional skills

According to relevant experts, with the promotion of large-scale language models and the increasing technical reserves of big data and high computing power for robot operation and control algorithm technology, humanoid robots will quickly enter the application stage, which is worth looking forward to. The "Guiding Opinions on the Innovation and Development of Humanoid Robots" released this year puts forward opinions and measures in three directions: special fields, typical manufacturing scenarios, people's livelihood and key industries: first, to accelerate the application of humanoid robots in special environments; second, to focus on 3C, Create humanoid robot demonstration production lines and factories in key areas of the manufacturing industry such as automobiles; third, expand the service applications of humanoid robots in medical care, housekeeping and other livelihood fields

More innovative companies emerge from being controlled by others to breaking foreign monopolies

Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center Co., Ltd. was officially registered in the Robot Innovation Industrial Park of Beijing Economic Development Zone, marking the establishment of the first provincial-level humanoid robot innovation center in China. Relevant information shows that the innovation center will be committed to carrying out five key tasks including prototypes of universal humanoid robots and universal large models of humanoid robots

As an international science and technology innovation center, Beijing occupies a full-chain advantage in the field of humanoid robots, from theoretical technology to product development to practical applications. In July this year, the Beijing Municipal Government released the "Beijing Robot Industry Innovation and Development Action Plan (2023-2025)", proposing that by 2025, the city's robot industry innovation capabilities will be significantly improved and 100 types of high-tech and high value-added robot products will be cultivated. , 100 application scenarios with nationwide promotion value, and the number of robots owned by 10,000 people has reached the world's leading level.

The achievements and application scenarios of humanoid robots in our country are becoming increasingly abundant, which is inseparable from the rapid development of the domestic robot industry. In recent years, more and more robot-related R&D institutions, enterprises and industrial parks have emerged in China. According to incomplete statistics, 10 years ago, Chinese local companies accounted for less than 5% of the domestic robot market, and the number of companies was only a few hundred. However, in the past 10 years, the number of registrations of domestic robot-related companies has increased year by year, and the robot industry has basically formed a full industry chain system from parts, complete machines to integrated applications

Humanoid robots exhibited at the 2023 World Robot Conference. Image source: Visual China

It is worth mentioning that in the humanoid robot track, core components play a vital role. In the past, our country has long relied on foreign imports for core robot components, and was subject to control everywhere. But now, many domestic companies have broken through technical restrictions and broken the monopoly of foreign brands in this field. my country is gradually realizing localization of core robot components.

The reducer is known as "one of the three core components of robots". Its function is somewhat similar to human joints. It is an important support for robots to make various actions and is at the upstream of the robot industry chain. In Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, there is an innovative enterprise in the field of reducers - Suzhou Green Harmonic Transmission Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Green Harmonic"). The company was founded in 2011. With continuous R&D investment and technical research, it took the lead in achieving a technological breakthrough in precision harmonic reducers in China, allowing this precision component to have a domestic alternative. Currently, the company has a leading position in this field. Relevant technologies have reached the international leading level, and product sales rank second in the world.

From "following" to "leading", this is the development process of Green Harmonic in the field of harmonic reducers, and it is also the development and evolution of the domestic robot industry. Chu Jianhua, chief technology officer of Green Harmonic, said: "In the past few years, we have mainly been catching up with foreign technologies, at least not losing to them. But in recent years, we must surpass foreign countries and play a leading role in the industry .”

In recent years, my country's robot industry has developed rapidly. Not only have more and more core parts companies emerged, many of them are national-level specialized small and medium-sized enterprises and "little giant" companies. According to the "China Robot Technology and Industry Development Report (2023)", the overall development level of my country's robot industry has steadily improved, application scenarios have significantly expanded, and the localization process of core components is also accelerating. At the same time, the advantages of collaborative robots, logistics robots, special robots and other products continue to increase, and innovative companies continue to emerge

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