'Workhorse' humanoid robots from Ningbo head to global markets

(ECNS) -- A humanoid robot innovation center in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, is developing practical robots for industrial and commercial applications, with one model already deployed at a European home appliance manufacturer's plant.

Established in December 2023, the Zhejiang Humanoid Robot Innovation Center is supported by the Ningbo municipal government and a team led by Professor Xiong Rong of Zhejiang University. The center focuses on developing embodied intelligence technologies and humanoid robots for industrial use.

"Our goal is not to create showpiece robots that perform flashy tricks," said Xiong, the center's chief scientist. "We want to build robots that can carry out real work, particularly precision tasks that are difficult to automate, labor-intensive or potentially dangerous."

The center has developed the NAVIAI product range. In retail environments, NAVIAI robots can serve as "smart store managers," retrieving products from shelves. In chemical laboratories, they can complete entire workflows, including sampling, pretreatment, analysis and cleaning.

One model, the NAVIAI-I2 bipedal humanoid robot, has achieved positioning accuracy of 0.03 millimeters. It has been deployed at the Turkish production facility of European home appliance brand Beko, making it one of the first Chinese-made humanoid robots to enter overseas markets.

"We built a simulated production line at the center, completed all the necessary testing and then shipped the robots to Turkey for deployment. The overall cooperation has progressed smoothly," said Xu Xuecheng, vice general manager and chief technology officer of the center. "Feedback from the production site is also helping us further refine our products."

With demand for automation growing across labor-intensive industries in Southeast Asia, the center is confident about expanding its presence in overseas markets, Xu added.

The center has formed an industry alliance comprising 88 suppliers in Ningbo and more than 200 nationwide.

Alongside the center's development, Ningbo has accelerated its expansion into the embodied intelligence sector, aiming to establish an ecosystem integrating AI models, hardware manufacturing and a wide range of practical applications.

(By Tang Yuxian)