Yangko dance on the Spring Festival Gala stage, street dance "explodes" social platforms... The "big show" of Yushu Robot at the beginning of the year reminds us that artificial intelligence has entered the next wave - embodied intelligence.
How "capable" is embodied intelligence? In layman's terms, the embodied intelligence system can be regarded as the "Android" in the field of robots. It enables robots to perceive, learn and interact with the environment dynamically, changing from "special" to "general".
Entering the advanced track, whether the next "screen-sweeping" embodied robot will be born in Shenzhen has become a hot topic at this Shenzhen Two Sessions. In fact, Shenzhen's robots are also refreshing their presence at a speed of "one look a day". From singing and dancing performances on the stage, to walking freely on city streets, to accurately completing handling and quality inspection tasks in factory workshops, embodied intelligent robots are challenging public perception in Shenzhen with a "super evolution" attitude.
"Robots are no longer 'marionettes', but 'living beings' that can perceive and think." Industry insiders define the transformative significance of embodied intelligence in this way. It is understood that the localization rate of Shenzhen's leading humanoid robot companies exceeds 90%, and the localization rate of the industrial chain and supply chain exceeds 60%. Behind these key indicators are disruptive breakthroughs in the technological paradigm.
Take UBTECH's Walker S as an example. This robot equipped with a six-dimensional force sensor and a high-performance servo drive has achieved complex tasks such as door lock quality inspection and headlight cover inspection in the NIO factory. Its humanoid arm design can stably carry 15 kg of objects. The CL-1 robot of Zhuji Power can complete large-span dynamic handling in warehouse scenes, and can still maintain a full-body control closed loop when facing terrain changes and load adjustments. These breakthroughs are due to the collaboration of the "AI brain" and the "physical cerebellum": Huawei and Tencent's large models provide decision support, Pasini Technology's multi-dimensional tactile sensors achieve 0.01N-level precise force control, and Zhaowei Electromechanical's 17-degree-of-freedom dexterous hands give robots "human-like" operation capabilities.
Such technological breakthroughs have laid the foundation for Shenzhen's first-mover advantage in the embodied intelligence track. "The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area of China, with Shenzhen as its core, accounts for more than 55% of the embodied intelligence supply chain. If the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is regarded as an independent entity, its share will reach 24%, which is equivalent to Europe and exceeds Japan. This fully demonstrates that Shenzhen has played a key role in maintaining China's dominant position in the global embodied intelligence competition." Liu Shaoshan, director of the Embodied Intelligence Center of Shenzhen Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (AIRS), said.
In Nanshan District, Shenzhen, the closed loop from design to mass production of humanoid robots can be basically completed within a radius of 10 kilometers - many upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain are gathered here, forming an ecological matrix of "upstream core components + midstream complete machines + downstream scenario applications". The frameless torque motor of Leadshine Intelligent, the motion control chip of Fengqi Technology, the visual sensor of Orbbec, the tactile sensing unit of Pasini... one by one "hidden champions" build a moat of embodied intelligence technology.
"Take the customization of a gear as an example. There are many companies in Shenzhen that can produce what we require. The production of various parts will not only increase efficiency by at least 50%, but also save about 30% of costs." Zhou Jian, founder and CEO of UBTECH Robotics, said earlier. Zhang Li, co-founder and COO of Zhuji Power, pointed out that the hardware iteration speed of Shenzhen's robot companies is faster than that of other first-tier cities, thanks to the capabilities of Shenzhen's hardware supply chain. "When our team was doing robot research in the United States, it often took more than a month to order a component, and we found that these express deliveries all came from Qianhai, Shenzhen. In addition, the scientific research and technological cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong has also driven the implementation of many of the latest technologies."
Industrial policy is the cornerstone of building a good ecology. At the policy level, Shenzhen's layout is more forward-looking. In April 2024, the Guangdong Province Embodied Intelligent Robot Innovation Center was established in Nanshan, and it joined forces with 10 units including Hong Kong University (Shenzhen) and Orbbec to focus on tackling common technologies in the industry. At the same time, the added value of the artificial intelligence industry in Nanshan District reached 20.7 billion yuan in the first half of last year. Three provincial artificial intelligence industrial parks formed a complete chain of "research and development-transformation-application". The government's open scene policy also allows enterprises to quickly verify the feasibility of technology.
When the "Big Watt" robot of the Southern Power Grid achieved live operation and the Alpha Bot 1S of Zhifang Square completed coffee brewing, a question surfaced: Is the human form necessary? The industry has speculation on this.
Supporters believe that the "human form" is adapted to the human environment and is the key to opening service scenarios. Opponents question that wheeled or robotic arm solutions are more efficient in specific scenarios. In this regard, Ding Ning, head of the Guangdong Embodied Intelligent Robot Innovation Center and executive vice president of the Shenzhen Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (AIRS), proposed the principle of "intelligence first". "Humanoid machines are benchmarked against 'humans', but the focus should not be just on 'human form', but to enable robots to continuously break through like humans, create tools, use more tools, and improve the working ability and efficiency of robots based on 'intelligence'."
Shenzhen's practice has given a compromise answer-"diversified forms and standardized cores". In the industrial field, UBTECH's Walker S Lite is adapted to automobile production lines through its lightweight design; in the field of municipal services, Pasini's TORA-ONE is competent for warehousing and logistics with its 1.86-meter adjustable height; in the field of education, Zhifang Alpha Bot 1S achieves seamless switching between electronic assembly and life services. This "one core, multiple forms" strategy not only retains the scalability of humanoid robots, but also avoids falling into the trap of form worship.
Although Shenzhen has stood at the forefront of the embodied intelligence wave, challenges still exist: the mass production accuracy of tactile sensors, the energy efficiency of motion control, the scene generalization ability of multimodal large models... These problems require collaborative breakthroughs between industry, academia and research. To this end, Shenzhen CPPCC member Han Yu mentioned in his proposal that through the precise allocation of special venture capital sub-funds and R&D funds, the construction of scenario-based ecology and the risk-sharing mechanism, the core problem of the start-up team "from 0 to 1" can be effectively solved, and a truly globally competitive AI and robot innovation cluster can be cultivated.
When embodied intelligent robots jump out of the laboratory, go to the streets, and enter the home, Shenzhen's exploration on this road is not only related to industrial upgrading, but also points to the ultimate proposition of how humans and intelligent bodies can coexist. Who will be the next "screen-sweeping" robot? Let's wait and see.