Robots of every description empower various industries in China

Robots of all kinds have been utilized in multiple industries in China, altering people’s modes of production and lifestyles while injecting new impetus into economic and social development.

Today, service robots represented by robot vacuum cleaners, delivery robots and rehabilitation robots are improving the lives of more and more people.

Visitors watch a robot's swordsmanship at a science and technology museum in Xiamen, Fujian province. (Photo/Xinhua)

In recent years, the growth of the “contactless economy” has created new demand for service robots in China, accelerating their application in various sectors, according to Tao Yong, a researcher at Beihang University. Data indicated that the market size of service robots in China could exceed $10 billion by 2024.

Meanwhile, robots are also playing a role in the field of manufacturing. At an unmanned workshop of Jiaoda Zhibang (Zaozhuang) Digital Technology Co., Ltd. in Zaozhuang city, east China’s Shandong Province, mechanical arms controlled by smart robots can control switches for all the equipment at the workshop with the help of industrial internet technologies.

During this Spring Festival, a four-legged robot that uses 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), camera and sensors, was deployed to carry out inspection of China Telecom’s core computer room.

The smart robot’s night-time HD camera can rotate 360 degrees, according to an executive of China Telecom. Powered by a private 5G network, the robot is able to achieve long-distance movement and transmission of data, and automatically carry out inspection. Managers of computer rooms can remotely control the robot to effectively complete inspections of computer rooms in real time.

As cross-industry application scenarios of robots become more diversified thanks to the in-depth integration of 5G and robot technologies, new technologies, products, and business models will continue to emerge, said Dong Kai, head of the Industrial Institute of the China Center for Information Industry Development.

Integration with technologies including AI and bionic technology has made robots more sophisticated, and this trend is accelerating. For example, robot arms onboard China’s space station have assisted astronauts with their extravehicular activities, and a self-powered soft robot developed by Chinese scientists carried out wing-flapping movements at a depth of more than 10,000 meters in the sea.

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and 16 other government departments unveiled an implementation plan to bring about wider robot use. The plan called for efforts to focus on 10 key application areas and achieve breakthroughs in over 100 innovative application technologies and solutions for robots.

According to the plan, China aims to promote over 200 model-application scenarios with cutting-edge technologies, innovative application modes, and prominent application results, and establish a batch of industry-leading robot application enterprises, experience centers, and verification centers.