A factory run by humanoid robots is being built in China
- Robotics firm UBTech has partnered with FAW-Volkswagen to create a factory run by robots
- The robots – called Walker S – will carry out numerous tasks at the factory
- UBTech hopes the project will improve manufacturing processes
Published on Jul 05, 2024 at 6:23 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Jul 05, 2024 at 7:29 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
A robotics firm in China has joined forces with FAW-Volkswagen to create a factory run by humanoid robots.
The futuristic-sounding project will see bots created by UBTech incorporated into production processes at the FAW-Volkswagen factory in East China’s Qingdao.
The collaboration will see UBTech’s humanoid robots—Walker S—placed in the factory, where they will perform routine tasks, such as assembling components and tightening bolts.
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The ‘Walker S’ humanoid robots will be deployed on production lines
The bipedal Walker S stands at around 5’5 tall (1.7m) and has 41 high-performance joints.
They have a full range of perception systems, including multi-dimensional force perception, multi-view stereo vision, and omnidirectional hearing. Meaning they’re possibly a lot more perceptive than some humans we’ve worked with.
Walker S has night-vision as well as ‘autonomous environmental exploration technology’, which allows the bots to ‘see’ its environment as well as objects and humans around it. Smart stuff.
UBTech has previously sent Walker S to factories owned by carmakers Dongfeng Liuzhou Motors and NIO.
The robotics firm has said it is keen to deploy its bot into several different industries with the hopes of advancing the use of robots in factories and on production lines.
“By enhancing the manipulative and task execution capabilities of humanoid robots, we hope to introduce humanoid robots to production lines and factories, bringing the industrial manufacturing process from automation to flexibility, unmanned operation, and intelligent manufacturing,” Wenyi Rao, PR manager at UBTECH, told The Robot Report.
UBTech aren’t they only firm deploying bots in factories
The news of the factory comes just days after Elon Musk revealed he plans to deploy ‘over a thousand’ – or potentially’ a few thousand’ – Optimus robots at Tesla.
Speaking during a shareholder meeting in June, Musk commented on advancements the bots had made.
“We’ve made a massive amount of progress with Optimus in a short period of time, from someone pretending to be a robot dancing in a suit, to a pretty hodge-podgy robot, to a robot that is actually doing useful tasks in the factory today,” he said.
Maybe one day in the not so distant future robot colleagues will become the norm.
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Claire Reid is a journalist who hails from the UK but is now living in New Zealand. She began her career after graduating with a degree in Journalism from Liverpool John Moore’s University and has more than a decade of experience, writing for both local newspapers and national news sites. Across her career she's covered a wide variety of topics, including celebrity, cryptocurrency, politics, true crime and just about everything in between.
