What can humanoid robots do
"If humanoid robots are used in cultural travel scenes, you can imagine statues, wax figures and so on coming back to life, just like in the movie Night at the Museum." In the view of Wang Lei, chairman of the startup Qingyun Robot Company, humanoid robots will be applied in the future in addition to logistics, warehousing, and home companionship scenarios, and cultural scenes will also be of great use. Policy support, as well as the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology, many people in the industry like Wang Lei have a positive view of the development of humanoid robots.
So what kind of robot can be called a "humanoid robot"? In fact, at present, there is no clear definition of "humanoid robot" in the world, so there is a certain ambiguity in its category. Yan Weixin, an associate researcher at the Robotics Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, told the Global Times that humanoid robots are close to the human body in terms of configuration, including arms, feet, torso and neck. In addition, it is necessary to have some visual perception abilities, as well as the ability to control motion. However, some "wheeled robots" that use wheels instead of legs are sometimes considered a type of "humanoid robot."
What role can a robot like "human" play in human life? "Compared with some simple service robots and industrial robots, humanoid robots have human appearance characteristics and can do some companionable work." Wang Lei told reporters.
On the official website of the domestic humanoid robot enterprise "Youbi", the Global Times reporter saw that their humanoid robots have a total of six application scenarios, including exhibition halls, film and television variety, scientific research universities, home services, warehousing and logistics and office scenes. Xiaomi's robots also have bionic four-legged robots with the main function of companionship and full-size humanoid bionic robots with the main purpose of labor.
"Overall, the application scenarios of domestic humanoid robots are mainly concentrated in the service sector, especially in the education and entertainment industries." Chen Dan, deputy secretary general of the China Robot Industry Alliance, told the Global Times reporter that in the future, health and industry will be an important direction of enterprise strength, the former requires the emotional interaction ability of robots, the latter requires coordination and stability, these are the current technical problems that need to be solved.
From a porter to a company CEO
"Optimus can now automatically sort objects and stretch out after a hard day's work..." In September, Tesla released the latest video of its humanoid robot Optimus Prime. "Optimus Prime has improved again." Many foreign media commented like this. Last year, Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus Prime made its world debut, and Musk said he intended to mass-produce it in three to five years for "maybe less than $20,000, much less than a car".
"Inspired by science fiction, building a robot that is both human-like and useful has been a decades-long dream." The Associated Press reported that humanoid robots are becoming a track of concern for global technology companies because of their long industrial chain and large space for future imagination. U.S. market Research company Grand View Research (GVR) research data shows that the global humanoid robot market size is estimated to be $1.11 billion in 2022, and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 21.1% from 2023 to 2030.
Combing through the development of humanoid robots over time, the Associated Press reports that while still "clunky," humanoid robots are starting to make their way into some markets. Damien Shelton, CEO of Agile Robotics, said, "Our goal is not to make robots look like humans from scratch, we're trying to build robots that can work in human space."
It is understood that Agile Robotics is opening a humanoid robot factory in Oregon, USA, in order to beat Tesla, which is leading in the field of humanoid robots. There, the company will mass-produce a series of humanoid robots called "Digit." In October, Amazon announced that it had trialled Digit in its warehouses. Digit has a camera and other sensors on its head and an engine on its torso. It has arms and legs, but it walks more like a dog or cat. According to Agile Robotics, Digit can climb stairs, squat, unload cargo, help sort, and more.
In August, Texas-based technology company Apptronik unveiled its latest design - an intelligent robot "Apollo" capable of replacing part of the human labor force, capable of handling 25 kilograms of cargo, also mainly used in warehousing. In addition, Boston Dynamics is an early pioneer in the field of warehousing and logistics robots. The company's robot, Atlas, shakes up the global industry every time it releases a "new action." In 2016, the company's bipedal robot Atlas made its debut, and each generation of Atlas since then has continued to "evolve", not only in terms of hardware, but also with the upgrade of artificial intelligence technology.
Although many commercial humanoid robots are mainly used in warehousing, handling and other scenarios, some companies are beginning to introduce humanoid robots to solve other problems. According to Business Insider, a humanoid robot named "Mika" became the CEO of a Polish beverage company last year. He is similar in size and height to a human, but his feet move on wheels. "I work around the clock, seven days a week," Mika told Reuters. Mika's work ranges from helping identify potential customers to selecting artists for rum producers to design bottles.
Industrialization faces challenges
In recent years, many products with high completion degree of humanoid robots have emerged in China, and many companies have also laid out on the humanoid robot circuit for many years.
According to Wang Lei, there are three main types of institutions and enterprises in China that have a layout of humanoid robots: one is universities; In addition, some new energy vehicle companies or electronics companies, such as Xiaopeng, millet, etc.; Then there are the tech startups.
"In the field of humanoid robots, the gap between China and the international leading level is not as big as imagined." Yan Weixin told the Global Times that humanoid robots involve four key technologies, which are high-explosive joint technology, dexterous hand technology, gait control technology and embodied intelligence technology. There is little gap between China and the international leading level in terms of hardware, but there is a certain gap in intelligent algorithms and motion control. "Humanoid robots can easily reach the 'ceiling' on the hardware body, and in the software algorithm, it will take at least five years to really land application and large-scale promotion." 'he said.
Chen Dan also said that Boston Dynamics humanoid robots can achieve running, jumping, moving things and other actions, but some domestic electric drive technology humanoid robots still need to improve in terms of gait balance, "the core is still in the algorithm gap."
For the industrial application of humanoid robots in the future, Chen Dan believes that two core problems need to be solved: technology and cost. At the technical level, the operation of humanoid robot prototypes and prototypes can not fully meet the needs of industrial scenes; In terms of cost, only by opening up the industrial chain and reducing the comprehensive cost of humanoid robots to a reasonable low level can it enter the practical stage.
Yan Weixin also believes that the high cost of humanoid robots to manufacture joints and other links will affect the promotion of robots. "China's manufacturing capabilities have advantages, and as long as humanoid robots can be popularized, China must be able to bring their costs down." 'he said.
The Global Times reporter noted that since the beginning of this year, Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai have successively released action plans related to humanoid robots to promote the development of the humanoid robot industry. There are also many "Musk" in the market optimistic about the future development of humanoid robots, that it can become the "next new energy vehicle." However, there are certain safety concerns about the development and application of humanoid robots in the industry.
Chen Dan said that the current law does not define who is responsible for a series of violations or infringements caused by the sale of humanoid robots. For example, if a humanoid robot enters a home and accidentally injures someone, who is responsible? Who oversees the information it collects?
At present, China has begun to formulate relevant management standards and norms. On November 21, the humanoid robot Standardization Working Group was announced in Beijing, and the establishment meeting reviewed and adopted the charter of the humanoid robot Standardization Working Group and the humanoid robot standard system, and reviewed the two draft standards proposed by the member units of the humanoid robot Standardization Working group.
It is understood that the establishment of the humanoid robot standardization working group will help strengthen the standard research layout in the field of humanoid robots, promote the development of the humanoid robot industry chain, and realize the rapid industrialization and large-scale application of China's independent superior technology by means of standards.
