Chinese technology companies presented more than two dozen humanoid robots at an industrial exhibition in Beijing, where their only foreign competitor was Tesla's Optimus.
SCMP writes about it.
The five-day World Robot Conference 2024, which ended on Sunday, is said to demonstrate China's progress and ambitions in robotics. According to the organizers, the exhibition was attended by 400 industry experts and scientists, as well as more than 160 robotics companies from China and other countries, which presented more than 60 new products, including 27 humanoid robots of Chinese development.
SCMP writes that while China is not considered a world leader in the creation of humanoid robots, mainland manufacturers hope they can replicate the international success the country has achieved in the smartphone and electric vehicle sectors.
The Chinese company Agibot presented several samples working on the basis of large language models (LLM) — technology underlying generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). Equipped with sensors, robots are able to "see" and "listening", processing text, audio and video.
Agibot products are focused on industrial use, for example, automated stacking, loading and unloading of materials in factories, as well as greeting customers in stores and providing assistance until the arrival of a human assistant.
Another exhibitor, Astribot, released the S1 robot assistant, which performs tasks such as writing calligraphy and playing yangtze — Chinese cymbals.
Startup Galbot showed how its wheeled robots can pick up and deliver orders to customers, as well as place goods on shelves for retail chains.
The company Deep Robotics presented a humanoid robot Dr.01, equipped with sensors and capable of autonomous learning.
“These demonstrations gathered crowds of spectators , indicating growing consumer interest. However, experts say technological hurdles and costs continue to hold back manufacturers of humanoid robots in China,” — notes the publication.