Are humanoid robots the future? Chinese makers instead highlight practical design

Humanoid robots still attracted crowds at this year's World Robot Conference (WRC) in Beijing, although other types of robots, including wheeled machines, were gaining traction as the industry moves from demonstrations to actual deployment. Unitree Robotics showcased bipedal models engaged in activities like table tennis and fighting matches, demonstrating advancements in speed, balance, and coordination.

However, other exhibits featured robots sorting parcels, loading production lines, or moving materials, with many of them utilizing wheels instead of legs or traditional robotic arms. Yang Li, senior engineer at start-up X Square Robot, questioned the necessity of bipedal robots when wheels could accomplish the task. During testing, Unitree's WALL-B robot sorted 1,816 packages in an hour, outperforming the bipedal Figure 03 robot from US-based Figure AI, which handled an average of 1,248 parcels per hour.

Meanwhile, AI2 Robotics displayed a wheeled robot making coffee and ice cream for conference attendees, employing different end effectors for various tasks. The company's vice-president and head of strategy, Mo Lei, noted that their robots had evolved from performing single demonstrations to handling multiple tasks for clients across various locations.

In industrial settings, the key question remains whether a robot can consistently perform for eight to 16 hours daily. Despite the shift towards non-humanoid robots, bipedal models still lead in shipment numbers in China, accounting for 50% of sales, followed by wheel-based humanoids at 29% and full-size bipeds at 21%. Nevertheless, wheeled platforms are rapidly gaining popularity in industrial and commercial applications due to their stability, making them practical for manipulation and embodied-AI applications.

The competition is also shifting from robot bodies to their "brains." Unitree founder Wang Xingxing highlighted that AI models represent the company's largest investment in terms of capital and personnel, with a portion earmarked for intelligent robot model research and development. Additionally, Unitree unveiled a seven-axis biomimetic robotic arm, R1, priced at 9,900 yuan (US$1,472).

Another challenge lies in data, as the increasing demand fuels the growth of relevant firms. Lumos Robotics, a robot maker, offers data-collection equipment and data-processing services, contributing roughly half of its revenue. The company collaborates with Mitsubishi Electric on a project involving assembly, packaging, material handling, and inspection at Mitsubishi's Chinese factories, emphasizing the significance of real-world data over the sheer number of robots purchased.