In science fiction works such as "Westworld", the future society where humans and machines coexist has inspired countless people's imagination. Today, this imagination is gradually becoming a reality, and robots are gradually integrating into human life. Xiong Youjun, one of the co-founders of the robotics company UBTECH, has been deeply involved in the robotics industry for more than 20 years. He firmly believes that robots will become an indispensable part of human life.
Xiong Youjun has led the development of a number of humanoid robots, one of which, called "Walker", has appeared on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala stage twice and has become the focus of public attention. He divides the development of robotics technology into three stages: weak artificial intelligence, strong artificial intelligence, and super artificial intelligence, and points out that the current technology is still in the weak artificial intelligence stage. To achieve general artificial intelligence, many technical problems need to be overcome.
In 2023, Xiong Youjun made an important decision. He left Shenzhen, where he had lived for many years, and went north to Beijing to become the CEO of the National and Local Embodied Intelligent Robot Innovation Center (hereinafter referred to as the "Innovation Center"). He said that this transformation means that he will not only overcome key common technologies, but also drive the development of the entire robotics industry.
Xiong Youjun pointed out that although domestic robot start-ups have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, they still have a certain gap in funding and talent compared with the United States. The United States not only has industry pioneers such as Boston Dynamics, but also upstarts such as Figure and Digit, while Chinese robot companies face the problems of limited resources and repeated research and development. Xiong Youjun once asked Mark Report, the founder of Boston Dynamics, why his technology is powerful but not in a hurry to commercialize. The answer he got was "I don't care", which reflects the American company's ultimate pursuit of technological leadership and innovation.
Under the leadership of Xiong Youjun, the Innovation Center successfully launched the "Tiangong" universal robot platform through a year of research and development, and built three robots, achieving technological breakthroughs in robots in anthropomorphic walking, running and embodied operation. At the same time, they also developed the "Kaiwu" multi-functional embodied intelligent body platform, aiming to create a universal robot "brain" and "cerebellum" so that the same set of technical solutions can be applied to robots of different forms.
Xiong Youjun believes that open source technology alone is not enough to promote significant progress in the industry, so the Innovation Center also actively participates in the formulation of standards and specifications for the robotics industry. At present, the Innovation Center has participated in the formulation of 4 national standards and 3 international standards, laying the foundation for the standardized development of the industry.
Regarding the future of humanoid robots, Xiong Youjun said that as technology continues to mature, humanoid robots will gradually become popular and almost everyone can afford them. But he is also worried about the emergence of price wars, believing that this will harm the industry. He emphasized that the Innovation Center will be committed to promoting the continuous advancement of technology and the healthy development of the industry, and contribute to the future of the robotics industry.
When talking about the responsibilities of the Innovation Center, Xiong Youjun said that it is different from ordinary commercial companies. Instead, it represents the country and the entire robotics industry, and is committed to conquering common and key core technologies, and promoting China's embodied intelligent robot industry to occupy the commanding heights in the global scientific and technological competition.
The Innovation Center is currently focusing on the research and development of the "Tiangong" universal robot mother platform and the "Kaiwu" multi-functional embodied intelligent body platform. At the same time, it is responsible for leading national-level tasks, tackling key technologies, compiling international and national robot-related standards, and cooperating with scene parties to promote pilot robot applications. The team size is nearly 200 people, with an average age of 32 years old, and R&D accounts for as much as 70%.
Xiong Youjun also revealed that the innovation center is actively exploring new technologies and evaluating them based on the maturity, application prospects and long-term strategies of the technologies. If the new technology is in line with the direction, the innovation center will choose to invest in research and development or cooperate with industry partners to advance it. At the same time, they also provide technical incubation and support for the industry through the Tiangong open source project and the construction of embodied intelligence data sets.
In terms of the robot technology route, the innovation center currently prefers the pure vision and bionic route because the bionic cost is reliable and the product is controllable. The three "Tiangong" robots they launched have achieved certain advantages in anthropomorphic walking, running and embodied operation, and plan to open source a complete set of motion control algorithm libraries and "Kaiwu" platforms in the future to promote technological progress and resource sharing in the entire industry.
Xiong Youjun expressed confidence in the future of the robotics industry. He believes that with the continuous maturity of technology and the reduction of costs, humanoid robots will gradually become popular in thousands of households. At the same time, he also called on capital and the public to be more patient and tolerant of the development of the robotics industry to promote the long-term development of the industry.
Xiong Youjun also shared the gap between China and the United States in the field of robotics technology. He believes that although the gap between China and the United States in the field of embodied intelligence is not large, the United States still has advantages in some underlying algorithms and technical architectures. However, China has obvious advantages in the market, supply chain and rapid iteration capabilities. He predicts that after the United States launches a new large model, China can usually catch up within half a year, and the gap is about half a year to a year.
Regarding the future development of the robotics industry, Xiong Youjun said that although it is still in the era of weak artificial intelligence, with the continuous advancement of technology and the continuous expansion of application scenarios, humanoid robots will gradually mature. He emphasized that the Innovation Center will continue to be committed to promoting technological innovation and the formulation of industry standards, and contribute to the future development of the robotics industry.
Xiong Youjun's robot dream is far more than that. He believes that with the continuous breakthrough of technology and the reduction of costs, humanoid robots will become an important part of human life. He looks forward to seeing a society where humans and machines coexist in the future, where robots can not only help humans solve various labor problems, but also become friends and partners of humans.
In Xiong Youjun's view, although the robotics industry is still in its early stages of development and faces many challenges and difficulties, with the continuous advancement of technology and the continuous expansion of the market, the future of humanoid robots is full of infinite possibilities. He called on the entire industry to work together to promote the continuous innovation of robotics technology and the continuous expansion of application scenarios, and contribute to the future society of human-machine integration.
Xiong Youjun's story and vision not only inspired countless robotics practitioners, but also painted a hopeful future society for us. With the continuous advancement of technology and the continuous expansion of applications, we have reason to believe that the future of human-machine integration is not far away.