By Wang Zheng, Two humanoid robots Walker S1 developed by Chinese robot manufacturer UBTECH recently conducted practical training in a logistics warehouse of Chinese new energy vehicle manufacturer BYD in Changsha, central China’s Hunan province.
The two robots, 172 centimeters in height, each squatted down and picked up a six-kilogram material box from a tray. Holding the box in front of their chests, they backed up and turned, took small steps towards an unmanned warehouse dolly, bent, and placed the boxes onto it. After this task was accomplished, they returned to the tray to repeat the process for another round.
“Since late October 2024 when they entered the factory for training, their handling efficiency has doubled. From the initial run-through of all handling scenarios by a single humanoid robot, to achieving collaborative operations with unmanned warehouse dollies, and now to two robots working together, ” said Jiao Jichao, vice president of UBTECH.
This is not the first time for UBTECH humanoid robots to enter an automobile plant. Previously, when the 400,000th vehicle manufactured by Chinese carmaker Zeekr rolled off the production line, a Walker S1 was at Zeekr’s 5G intelligent plant, practicing millimeter-level precision quality checks for vehicle logos and car lamps. At the turn of the year, the Walker S1 also worked in three other manufacturing enterprises for training.
At the 2022 World Robot Conference, only three humanoid robots were showcased, and the number increased to 10 in 2023 and 27 in 2024. As of Nov. 18 last year, the humanoid robot sector had witnessed 49 financing events totaling 8 billion yuan ($1.09 billion), with the largest single investment nearing 1 billion yuan, according to Jiang Lei, chief scientist of the National and Local Co-Built Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center.
Jiang said the number of humanoid robot manufacturers across China has increased from 31 in early 2024 to 80, and the number stands at over 200 globally.
In addition to humanoid robots, embodied intelligence has also gained significant attention. Recently, many technological experts in autonomous driving sector have shifted their focus to embodied intelligence, leading to a surge in investment and entrepreneurship activities in this area.
Embodied intelligence refers to integrating artificial intelligence into physical entities such as robots, enabling them to perceive, learn, and interact dynamically with the environment like humans do, Jiao explained.
This concept, first proposed in 1950, emphasizes that intelligent behavior is generated through the interaction between the intelligent agent’s body and the environment. In China’s national artificial intelligence development strategy, embodied intelligence is seen as the only way for artificial intelligence to interact with the physical world, which will have profound implications on the real world.
Humanoid robots are one physical form of embodied intelligence. Academician Sun Ninghui of the Chinese Academy of Engineering said that embodied intelligence refers to intelligent entities with physical bodies able to interact with the physical world, such as robots and unmanned vehicles. These entities process various sensory data inputs through multimodal large models and generate motion commands to drive the intelligent agents, replacing traditional rule-based or mathematical formula-based motion control methods. This approach achieves a deep integration of virtual and real worlds.
Jiang told that there are two paths for the development of humanoid robots. One is the Honda ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) path, which emphasizes that robots are just a hardware platform and focuses more on the mechanical engineering and motion capabilities. However, this path ceased development in 2018.
The other path is the Tesla path, which advocates for integrating the development of humanoid robots with embodied intelligence, emphasizing the support of artificial intelligence infrastructure such as intelligent computing center, data center, and cloud service platform.
Jiang said, “The next generation of humanoid robots should be a combination of robots, embodied intelligence, and artificial intelligence infrastructure.”
According to Tesla’s plan, this year, the humanoid robot “Optimus,” also known as the “Tesla Bot,” will enter limited production this year and mass production in 2026. Similarly, leading Chinese humanoid robot companies see 2025 as the “year one” for mass production.
On Dec. 26, 2024, Leju Robot, a high-end tech firm committed to the development of humanoid robots, officially launched its first production line, with an estimated annual output of 200 humanoid robots.
UBTECH also plans to increase the delivery volume of its Walker series. Chairman of Leju Robot Leng Xiaokun noted that the company’s humanoid robot “Kuavo” has already been employed in industrial settings, with the ultimate goal of transitioning to home services.
