At the 2023 World Robot Conference (WRC) kicked off last week in Beijing, various humanoid robots dazzled visitors with their proficiency in dance, basketball, coffee-making and other abilities, heralding a near future with increased numbers of intelligent robots working among people.
Since the beginning of the year, the development of AI foundation models has provided technical support for the industrial application of humanoid robots. More and more robot developers are using AI foundation models for the intelligent control of robots.
“With the AI foundation models, humanoid robots have had their autonomic decision-making abilities enhanced in real application scenarios,” said Wen Huanyu, an algorithm engineer at UBTECH Robotics Corp Ltd.
Unlike robots that receive simple instructions from people, humanoid robots to some degree already possess a semantic understanding ability, Wen said.
After hearing the voice command “I’m thirsty,” Youyou, a panda-like robot from UBTECH shown at the WRC, responded after just a few seconds. It walked toward the refrigerator, opened it, reached in to take out a drink, and then closed the door using its other hand, just as a human would.
A humanoid service robot called Cloud Ginger, which has more than 30 intelligent flexible joints, attracted much attention at a booth operated by Dataa Robotics. Cloud Ginger is connected to a cloud platform and RobotGPT, and it has communication and multi-modal interaction abilities. It can take on a variety of roles, including the role of a dancer, performing the complex Chinese choreography ‘Thousand-Hand Bodhisattva.’
These humanoid robots are not only showcasing their abilities at exhibitions — They have also been put into practical use in schools, service halls and other locations. Many humanoid robots from EX Robots, for example, have undertaken manual work at conferences and exhibitions, in hotel services, and in education and elderly care.
With the continuous expansion of application scenarios and the scope of application, they will also enter factories, farms and even every household in the future.
Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xu Xiaolan said that the strong development momentum of China’s robot industry and the continuous breakthroughs in basic core technologies have laid a solid foundation for the industrial development of humanoid robots.
According to industry estimates, the scale of the global humanoid robot market will reach 1.9 trillion yuan (about 263.9 billion U.S. dollars) by 2030, with China’s market scale accounting for 376.2 billion yuan of that figure.
Though many humanoid robots released at the exhibition are still in their prototype stages, Vice President of Dataa Robotics Chen Yuan believes that humanoid robots can make better use of human tools and provide more intelligent services.
“As relevant enterprises continue to make great efforts to optimize the structural design of core robot components and reduce robot energy consumption, robots will have infinite potential to act like human beings in the future,” Chen said
Interview: China sees rapid urbanization, integrated development in all fields — expert
CAIRO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) — China is witnessing rapid urbanization and integrated development in all fields, making the country a unique development model worldwide, said Egyptian expert Abu Bakr al-Deeb in a recent interview with Xinhua.
Al-Deeb, an advisor to the Cairo-based Arab Center for Research and Studies, has recently returned from what he described as “a very fruitful visit” to China, during which he got to take a closer look at the economic and social development in the giant Asian country.
“Once I set foot in Beijing airport, the civilized and visual coordination of everything caught my attention,” the Egyptian expert told Xinhua.
Al-Deeb, also an expert in international relations and political economy, noted that he visited several provinces and cities as well as some villages during his recent trip to China.
He said that the streets of Beijing were characterized by “massive urban coordination” and friendly people. “We thought in the beginning that this urban and visual coordination was limited to Beijing, the capital, but we toured many provinces and cities and found such beauty everywhere,” the expert said.
The Egyptian expert also hailed the significant development of Chinese technology in all fields, including agriculture, industry, architecture, communications and energy.
“China has also achieved rapid and tremendous progress in infrastructure, high-tech manufacturing, patents and commercial applications,” he emphasized.
“The good thing is that China has not achieved its rise through colonizing and plundering others, but through the efforts of its loyal citizens and via drawing a path for its rise that combines both its intellectual heritage and the lessons learned from global experiences,” the expert told Xinhua.
The Egyptian expert considered the Chinese experience “a unique development model” regarding the achievements made within a short period, noting that it is worth studying and learning from.
The Chinese economy, which accounts for a large slice of global GDP growth, has demonstrated its strength over the past decades and China’s commitment to opening-up has injected momentum into the global economy, the Egyptian expert said.
Concerning China’s relations with developing countries, al-Deeb said it deals with Arab and African countries according to the “win-win rule,” offering them investments in infrastructure without political strings attached.
He also described China’s relations with Egypt as “distinguished” and free from any conflict in strategic goals.
“The Egyptian-Chinese relations have recently witnessed remarkable development in all fields and (have) proven capable of keeping pace with international and regional transformations,” the Egyptian expert told Xinhua