Humanoid robots in manufacturing applications

Data show that the operating income of China's robot industry will continue to maintain double-digit growth in 2022; In the first half of 2023, the output of industrial robots and service robots increased by 5.4% and 9.6%, respectively. At the beginning of 2023, the "Robot +" application Action Implementation Plan jointly issued by 17 departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposed that by 2025, the density of manufacturing robots will double compared with 2020, and the application depth and breadth of service robots and special robots industries will be significantly improved. According to other reports, at the same time as the 2023 World Robot Conference, which closed in mid-August, the "Several measures to promote the innovation and development of the robot industry in Beijing" policy was introduced, proposing the establishment of a 10 billion yuan robot industry fund, the establishment of a humanoid robot innovation center and other industrial support policies. At the same time, the report believes that the humanoid robot is the aggregation of the underlying algorithm "brain + cerebellum" + hardware "body (torso)", the hardware part has the support of the maturity of the machine tool parts, the software problem will be gradually solved by the exponential iteration of AI, and the prototype iteration is in the final sprint stage and the night before mass production. The three major application scenarios of humanoid robots are industrial manufacturing, commercial services and family companionship.

Driven by policy and market demand, the domestic humanoid robot circuit is undergoing microsecond changes, and the number of participants has increased. Some industry analysts believe that the current technological progress and industrialization of humanoid robots significantly exceed expectations, and have entered a period of accelerated development of rapid iterative upgrading. Recently, a number of domestic humanoid robot manufacturers have announced future sales plans or landing scenarios, and many listed companies have publicly disclosed their progress in the layout of humanoid robots to the market.

On the evening of August 29, Tianqi Stock announcement disclosed that it will set up a joint venture with Youbi to focus on humanoid robots for automotive applications, and the first prototype delivery time will be no later than the end of December. On the afternoon of August 28, Shanghai Lingang Economic Development (Group) Co., LTD. (referred to as Lingang Group) and Shanghai Zhiyuan New Innovation Technology Co., LTD. (referred to as Zhiyuan Robot) held a strategic cooperation signing ceremony, and the two sides will use the "ecological co-construction" strategy to promote the cooperation of various links of the robot industry chain. Topu Group also revealed in its semi-annual report that it has set up a robot division to develop humanoid robot related components. It took Yusu Technology six months to launch the humanoid robot "H1", which is expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 2023. The XR-4, a bipedal humanoid robot with more than 60 degrees of freedom, will be officially released in 2024. Fourier GR-1 (40 degrees of freedom) is expected to be mass-produced by the end of 2023. Boreal shares issued an announcement that they and HIT to jointly develop humanoid robots, the goal is to control the cost within 200,000 yuan, the future is expected to perform chassis assembly, appearance detection, material handling and other tasks, landing in the automobile factory, 3C precision manufacturing plant and other industrial fields.

The accelerated development of the humanoid robot industry also provides opportunities for the development of emerging parts and domestic alternatives. From the machine tool industry reducer, ball screw pair and other domestic parts suppliers or will benefit.