Humanoid robots are designed for the specific purpose of helping humans and to accomplish those kinds of works where humans are unsuccessful or where their reach is limited.
That is why humanoid robots are aimed to think and act like real people, unlike industrial robots, which perform only specific tasks. While they have long been a staple of science fiction movies, but now with the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, along with major financial investments, are bringing them closer to becoming a part of our daily lives sooner than expected. Recently, we see that there are various Chinese companies that have started the production of humanoid robots for the Chinese people. There were various companies that have been announcing their humanoid robots in 2024 for quite a while but and now they are here, they are in production. Many Chinese companies are starting to produce more humanoid robots than ever, which showcases that the robot business is moving towards mass production.
On 18th March, a Chinese company based on robotics called Dobot, presented a new full-size humanoid robot which is named as “Dobot Atom”. This robot has the ability to walk with straight legs and handle objects skillfully. According to company’s claims statements, it is the first of its kind. The robot is available for a pre-order at the starting price of 199,000 Yuan (which is around 23 lakhs in Indian currency). Specialists indicate that this is the beginning of a large-scale production of humanoid robots. Dobot Atom is a commercial grade functioning robot which is standing a height of 1.53 m and weighs around 62 kg. It is a feature-loaded machine 1:1 biometric arm structure, having 41 degrees of freedom across its body. When asked from a Dobot representative that what daily chores can the robot do? The person replied, “this robot can autonomously complete tasks such as preparing breakfast, pouring milk, arranging fruit plates, toasting bread and grilling bacon”. Dobot has started working with local car manufacturers, electronic factories, as well as coffee and tea shops. According to an operative in Dobot, they plan for the test production and full-scale production by the middle of the year.
Not only this company but rival companies such as Midea Group have also revealed a humanoid robot prototype. A Shanghai based media reported that this robot can carry out multiple duties which include shaking hands, passing a water bottle, forming a heart shape with its hands, dancing, removing bottle caps and tightening screws. The company’s Vice President Wei Chang told various reporters that their company has established an innovation centre for strengthening its research and development attempts in the subject. Another Chinese company based in Shenzhen called UBTech Robotics also plan to expand their business in humanoid robots by the end of this year. According to the Chief Brand Officer Michael Tam, in an interview has said that, UBTech has full desire to supply as many as 500 to 1000 units or 60% of Walker S Series factory manufactured humanoid robots to their consumers and partners, which includes prominent car manufacturers along with Apple supplier Foxconn and logistics firm SF Express. He said that their primary goal is to use the robots for industrial purposes because there is a shortage of manpower and they provide an established environment for the robots to manoeuvre as well as they are not elegant enough to handle humans in home, but the company’s ultimate aim is to bring them to every household. Unlike other Chinese companies, this is not new for UBTech to manufacture and produce robots as they have a history of producing a wide range of robotic products for cleaning, delivery and service.
There has been an intense competition in the robotics industry not only among the Chinese manufacturers of robots but also from other industries such as Elon Musk’s Tesla, where they are also rapidly developing advanced humanoid robots and want to establish a significant place in the industry. We can take the example of a newly established start-up called Agibot, which was co-founded by a former Huawei employee, who says that they are targeting for 5000 humanoid robots by the end of this year. Another company called Zhiyuan Robotics have a fixed plan to supply between 3000 to 5000 robots this year. Agibot has also emerged as a key player in the robotics district of China by the setting up of a new factory in Lingang New Area of Shanghai. It also plans to open a plant in the Pudong district to expand their production capacity of more than 400 robots per month.
Let’s take a look back for few years where we see that humanoid robots became a hot topic in 2021 when Tesla revealed their plan to create a general-purpose robot called “Optimus”. Let’s fast forward it to January 2025, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where fourteen different humanoid robot models were launched by many different manufacturers along with Tesla to show the rapid progress in the robotics industry. So, we can understand from this that the US is not backing away from this robotic race. Now, on the other hand according to a Chinese think tank, the global humanoid robot market is expected to show an enormous growth and can reach to about $15 billion by 2030. It would also be a challenge for the American industries to enter into the Chinese market and establish a stronghold, especially bombing of many automobile manufacturing in China because of the Chinese cars' quality and reliability. China has now over the years challenged America’s capability and has now developed a strong manufacturing industrial network, which has helped them improve the quality of it's products. Now we can see the difference in quality between Chinese-made components and those from USA, Japan and Germany is getting reduced.
As companies are competing to make humanoid robots broadly accessible to the public, the Chinese firms have an edge over other countries as they are offering across-the-board production with lower costs, making it easier to bring these robots to the market.