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Since last year, various humanoid robots around the world and in China have made great debuts. In January this year, a Nanjing company also made a big deal –
Nanjing Tianchuang Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Tianchuang Robot”) released the world’s first explosion-proof humanoid robot “Tiankui No. 1”, which will be launched into chemical plants and emergency response. High-risk scenarios such as rescue are eye-catching.
2024 is called the “first year of commercialization of humanoid robots”. With the accelerated evolution of technology and accelerated capital, smart-minded and flexible humanoid robots have become a new trend in industrial competition.
Nanjing has a solid foundation in the robot industry and has successfully advanced to the first echelon of the country. Many companies such as Tianchuang Robot have entered the field of humanoid robots. The city is actively embracing this future industry and accelerating the layout of the humanoid robot track.
Actively layout the array
“Made in Nanjing” humanoid robots gradually become armies
Where is the awesomeness of “Tiankui No. 1”?
“It is the world’s first humanoid robot to obtain IIC T6 level explosion-proof certification. It has undergone a lot of special treatments and transformations in motion structures, power systems, electrical circuits, etc., and can operate in explosive environments such as hydrogen and methane.” Liu Shuang, chairman of Chuang Robot, said.
In the four-wheel and eight-wheel drive explosion-proof wheel architecture, it has a pair of thick and powerful arms. Under the command of a smart brain, the “Tiankui No. 1” is quite steady and will not lose its chain no matter how bumpy it is. “As a technology enterprise that serves energy, municipal and other industries with robot + AI algorithm as its core product, it is to introduce the most cutting-edge robot technology into the field of industrial intelligent operation and maintenance we are engaged in.” Liu Shuang said.
“Furious and flexible” is one of the important labels of “Tiankui No. 1”. It uses two-arm operation, but strengthens the end load. The end load can reach 15 kg under the horizontal fully expanded form of a single arm. Just like “Mr. Wei Meng” can carry heavy-duty components such as industrial valves and high-torque and high-load operations in industrial scenarios. Medium-sized shows off his skills.
At the same time, the waist of “Tiankui No. 1” also has a unique trick, which can be folded and lifted, so that the arm can be vertically expanded to the highest end height of 3 meters, which allows its vertical working height to reach 3 meters, greatly improving frequent high-level operations Require. It also has the capabilities of long battery life, multi-terrain adaptation, and multi-sensor fusion navigation, which can meet the reachable problems in complex industrial environments.
New forces accelerate breakthroughs, leading companies are unwilling to fall behind
Faced with the surging wave of humanoid robots, Nanjing Eston Automation Co., Ltd., which has been the largest domestic brand shipment of industrial robots in the Chinese market for seven consecutive years, has actively seized the trend of humanoid robots driven by core technology. In September last year, Eston Coozhuo launched the first humanoid robot independently developed, with all core components independently developed, becoming the first direct investment project of Jiangsu Province’s strategic emerging industry fund.
“This robot has a total of 44 degrees of freedom, and has the ability to pick and place materials with voice interaction, visual perception, and intelligent material. At present, the R&D team is accelerating research and development, striving to launch the second generation of humanoid robots iteratively in April and May this year. It can show its skills in specific industrial manufacturing scenarios.” The head of the Eston Coozhuo R&D team revealed.
In recent years, Nanjing has actively made arrangements in the field of humanoid robots, and has also gathered a number of high-quality enterprises such as Jicui Intelligent Manufacturing and Weilan Technology. Among them, Jicui Intelligent Manufacturing is the only company in China that is involved in electro-hydraulic servo humanoid robots.
Highlight scene thinking
Industrial environment can operate and family services can accompany you
It was found that the current was too high, and the cabinet was opened and the gate was opened and the solution was determined by yourself… At the beginning of the design and development of the humanoid robot “Tiankui No. 1”, Tianchuang Robot wanted it to solve the actual “pain points” of customers in industrial scenarios. The core is the complexity of the working environment and the requirements of high accuracy of the work.
“In the past, inspection robots could only find problems but could not solve them. We would rather call them workable robots in industrial hazardous environments,” Liu Shuang introduced.
With the landing scenario as the key core, Tianchuang Robot has used the large number of structural design experiences in robots that can survive for a long time and reliably in scenarios such as wide temperature, high humidity, strong magnetic and dust, flammable and explosive, etc., which have accumulated over the years, to improve the “Tiankui No. 1” “The high protection level of “has become the world’s first explosion-proof humanoid robot, and uses a combination of remote operation + pre-training to solve the problem of operation at the industrial site at this stage.
Humanoid robots refer to robots with humanoid forms, movement, functions and intelligence. Humanoid forms and movement make them more adaptable and versatile when working in a human environment. At present, humanoid robots have many forms, and in terms of the choice of foot and wheels, Tianchuang robots emphasize scene thinking more.
“The foot type still has some challenges in walking stability, endurance, explosion-proof structure design, etc., and is more suitable for lightweight C-end scenarios.” Liu Shuang believes that the industrial site wheel type can cover more than 90% of the operating scenarios in the service industry. Therefore, from the beginning, the focus of R&D was placed above the waist, focusing on the working ability and load capacity of both arms.
Jicui Intelligent Manufacturing also highlights scene thinking . At the 2024 World Intelligent Manufacturing Conference, the company made its debut with a semi-human service robot, and is expected to be suitable for industries such as smart health care, family care, and medical education in the future.
“The core of humanoid robots is mainly motor ability and cooperative operation ability of both arms.” Luo Minzhou, chairman of Jicui Intelligent Manufacturing, believes that “humanoid robots are more likely to be first implemented in the fields of home services, agricultural picking, hazardous chemical treatment, etc. in the future. ”
“We need to promote explosion-proof humanoid robots to more application scenarios.” Liu Shuang said that from the perspective of Tianchuang robots, the application of humanoid robots on the to B-end is worth investing and persisting, and may even be implemented earlier than humanoid robots on the to C-end Large-scale implementation.
A new breakthrough window
Multiple parties make efforts to seize the “new blue ocean”
“‘Tiankui No. 1’ immediately attracted attention after its release. Many units contacted each other, hoping to start cooperation. Dozens of investment institutions invited us to communicate the next financing plan.” Liu Shuang said.
As the ultimate goal in the field of robots, humanoid robots are becoming the focus of global technological competition. After the “first year of commercialization”, has humanoid robots really reached the “first year of explosion”?
At present, with the breakthroughs in key technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision, the performance and functions of humanoid robots have been significantly improved, which provides a broad range of applications for humanoid robots in many industries such as intelligent manufacturing, medical care, and home services. prospect.
At present, the development of humanoid robots has entered a new breakthrough window period and has entered a stage of productization and industrialization. The future market prospects of humanoid robots are favored by government departments, industry enterprises, professionals, etc.
A new trend has arrived, how to seize the opportunity?
Aiming at the goal of building a “robot city”, Nanjing has issued the “Three-Year Action Plan for Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Robot Industry” and focused on creating a “1+N+1” complete machine system. Among them, the last “1” represents the forward-looking layout of the humanoid robot industry, comprehensively promote the research and development of humanoid robots’ “brain”, “cerebellum”, and “limb” and other components, build a universal whole machine platform for humanoid robots, and initially establish a small-scale production and manufacturing of humanoid robots. ability.
In Nanjing, nearly 100 robot research and development and production companies have been gathered around the entire industrial chain such as robot complete machines, key components, and system integration applications. More and more companies are continuing to make efforts in the emerging track of humanoid robots.
Among them, Jicui Intelligent Manufacturing has developed a domestic ultra-small high-explosion electro-hydraulic servo system, which can fully meet the current technical needs of electro-hydraulic servo humanoid robots.
“At present, Jicui Intelligent Manufacturing is developing breakthroughs in key components of humanoid robots, super realistic and bionic human faces, human hands, etc., and will launch the first high-dynamic and super realistic humanoid bipedal robot in China.” Luo Minzhou, chairman of Jicui Intelligent Manufacturing, revealed.
To seize the new track, technology research and development is the key. Nanjing has a rich reserve of industrial talents and strong R&D advantages. The number of well-known universities and scientific research institutions ranks among the top in the country, and has great potential to achieve efficient transformation of scientific and technological achievements. Nanjing University, Southeast University, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and other universities all have key majors related to robots.
To seize the new blue ocean, we also need to build a comprehensive and diversified regional innovation ecosystem. The head of the Economic Development Bureau of the Jiangbei New District Management Committee said that it will base itself on the first-mover advantage in the field of humanoid robots, continue to strengthen policy support and services, and help enterprises accelerate the formation of stronger core competitiveness. At the same time, we will optimize the gradient cultivation system, take leading enterprises as the driving force, attract more high-quality upstream and downstream enterprises to gather, and improve the stability and competitiveness of the humanoid robot industry chain and supply chain.
“At present, we have established a 500 million yuan humanoid robot industry investment fund in Jiangbei New District to accelerate the implementation of humanoid robots in Nanjing and Jiangsu.” Luo Minzhou revealed.
