Making smart robots in the giant panda's hometown

CHENGDU -- Zhang Ruirui felt a step closer to his dream of making the world's smartest robots, when seven humanoid robots developed by his team were unveiled on Dec 27 last year in Southwest China's Sichuan province, an area best known as the hometown of the giant panda.

The robots will be used at the World Games 2025, which will be hosted by Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan, and are expected to feature in various scenarios, such as the torch relay, sports exhibitions, and reception and retail services.

"It's a significant recognition of our work, but that's only the beginning," said Zhang, president of Chengdu Humanoid Robot Innovation Center Co Ltd (CHRIC).

Zhang added that CHRIC has focused on the "brain" technology of humanoid robots -- aiming to create the "most powerful brain" for these machines.

"The brain is particularly important as it enables the robots to think, understand and have reasoning capabilities that traditional industrial or service robots lack, with the latter operating via pre-programmed instructions," said Zhang.

Since the beginning of 2024, CHRIC has managed over 30 world-leading technological achievements related to humanoid robot "brains," including its development of China's first humanoid robot high-speed inference model based on diffusion architecture and the country's first multimodal task execution system for humanoid robots.

Recent milestones achieved by Zhang's team in humanoid robot development reflect the current explosive growth of China's humanoid robotics industry.

According to a report on the industry released in July at the 2024 World AI Conference in Shanghai, China's humanoid robot market scale was about 2.76 billion yuan ($384 million) last year. By 2029, it is expected to expand to 75 billion yuan, which would account for 32.7 percent of the global market.

"With predictions from figures like Elon Musk suggesting humanoid robots could outnumber humans two-fold, the market potential is immense, even surpassing that of the new energy vehicle industry," said Zhang.

As a next-generation mobile intelligent terminal, humanoid robots represent a culmination of smart information technology while possessing diverse application scenarios -- embodying the characteristics of new quality productive forces that China has been advocating.

In November 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released guidelines for the innovative development of humanoid robots, aiming to establish an initial innovation system for this industry by 2025, with breakthroughs in key technologies such as "brain, cerebellum and limbs," and ensuring the safe and effective supply of core components.

Various regions in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Shandong have established innovation centers for humanoid robots, integrating production, academia and research to consolidate industry resources and seize early advantages.

Sichuan, an economic driving force for China's vast inland western regions, is also actively responding to the national strategy, having designated artificial intelligence as the "No 1 innovation project" for 2024, while providing substantial support for such initiatives.

A three-year action plan for the high-quality development of the AI industry in Chengdu (2024-2026) outlines that by 2026, Chengdu aims to have launched 100 new robot models, attracted 100 firms across the industrial supply chain, created 100 benchmark demonstration scenarios, and achieved a total industrial scale of over 60 billion yuan -- thereby establishing itself as a national growth center and demonstration hub for humanoid robot R&D and manufacturing.

According to Zhang, humanoid robots represent a complex system involving multiple fields such as algorithms, chips, new materials and mechanical engineering.

The manufacturing of a complete machine serves as a bridge between technology development and market application, with approximately 70 percent of costs attributed to hardware. Key components such as dexterous hands and joint actuators have high value and present significant research difficulty.

Zhang emphasized that innovation centers across the country will differentiate themselves to avoid homogeneous competition in the sector, focusing instead on industrial synergy to expand the overall market.

Zhang chose to start with the "lightest".

On Oct 28, CHRIC launched Konka-1, a single-arm wheeled humanoid robot made in Chengdu. It is ultra-lightweight and the first of its kind in China.

Equipped with CHRIC's "powerful brain", it can quickly understand task intent, observe its environment, infer task processes, generate task flows, control its limbs independently, and complete tasks accurately, according to Zhang.

In an IKEA showroom-like family setting built by CHRIC, Konka-1 is given an order to take a cold sugar-free drink to its owner. Upon receiving its command, the robot deduces from the keyword "cold" that it should look in the refrigerator for the drink. Then, by interpreting the keyword "sugar-free", it reads the labels on the bottles to find the right one. Ultimately, the robot selects a cold sugar-free cola from the refrigerator and delivers it to its owner.

According to Zhang, the robot has a maximum operating height of 1.6 meters, a maximum arm span of 1.1 meters and a maximum payload capacity of 5.5 kilograms, positioning it at the forefront of the robotics industry.

As one of the world's lightest humanoid robots, the complete machine weighs just 25 kg, while the industry average ranges from 60 kg to 250 kg.

Its load-to-weight ratio is 0.22, the highest globally and more than five times the industry average, Zhang said, adding that the robot boasts a runtime of eight hours -- compared to the industry average of about one hour.

These ultra-lightweight humanoid robots have extensive application scenarios in research laboratories, concept verification centers, education, elderly care, and emergency safety sectors.

For instance, in family settings, they can assist the elderly or serve as home assistants for young adults, replacing housekeeping services, Zhang said.

Currently, Zhang's team is progressing with prototype development and concept validation as construction of testing facilities continues. After the initial delivery of some prototype robots, CHRIC is anticipating a mid-2025 transition to pilot production at a dedicated facility supported by Chengdu's government.

CHRIC aims to foster an integrated industry chain for humanoid robots in Chengdu, positioning itself as a leading enterprise in Chengdu's AI and robotics sector alongside two other major players -- one specializing in large models and the other in industrial robotics.

Zhang noted that Chengdu has provided significant infrastructure for hardware, software, chip design and precision manufacturing, enabling a clustering effect that supports both technological and workforce development of the industry.

The center is focused on enhancing collaboration across various industry segments, as the supply chain for humanoid robots remains underdeveloped both nationally and globally.

"We are collaborating with local Sichuan enterprises for components and motors, with plans to work with large model firms like Huawei's Pangu model," said Zhang.

"At the time we begin pilot testing, we will invite hardware manufacturers to collaborate, including those specializing in electronic skin and visual sensors. This collaboration essentially serves to incubate Chengdu's humanoid robotics sector," he explained.

"In the near future, I believe that when people mention Sichuan or Chengdu, they will think not only of pandas, teahouses and hotpot, but also of robots," Zhang said.