A new humanoid robot from Wuhan, China is gaining attention for its heavy-lifting capabilities.
Wuhan Glory Road Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. recently unveiled its Laborer-1 humanoid robot. It’s designed to carry loads ranging from 40 to 60 kg (88 to 132 lbs). The robots are being produced in limited quantities for testing.
The robot, known as Da Zhuang in China, was previously showcased for President Xi Jinging at the Wuhan Industrial Innovation Development Institute. It was originally designed for remote maintenance of power substations in rural areas, but Wuhan Glory Road now touts it as a general-purpose industrial humanoid.
It’s one of several AI-powered humanoids emerging from China’s Hubei province with wide-ranging applications.
Glory Road developed Laborer-1 with the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST). They collaborated via the industrial institute’s Tianwang Innovation Platform, which translates to Skynet. The platform facilitates collaboration and helps companies find talent and funding for high-tech projects.
According to Chinese state media, the Laborer robot maintains a straight-legged walking capability thanks to a self-developed motion control algorithm. Wuhan Glory Road’s R&D division is actively fine-tuning the humanoid’s strength and dynamic balance.
It uses vision-based artificial intelligence for navigation and object recognition. Multi-modal sensor fusion combines visual and LiDAR based perception.
Standing 1.8 meters (5 feet 9 inches), the Laborer benefits from its 95 kg (209 lb) frame. It’s significantly heavier than today’s leading industrial humanoids like Agility Robotics’ Digit (64 kg/114 lbs), Figure AI’s Figure 02 (70 kg/154 lbs), and UBTECH’s Walker S1 (76 kg/167 lbs).
Though the Laborer has a higher payload capacity than its contemporaries, it falls short compared to industrial robots like KUKA’s Titan, which can handle nearly 1,000 kg (2,204 lbs). However, the Laborer’s non-fixed humanoid form factor allows for greater mobility and adaptability in dynamic industrial environments.
According to Glory Road’s website, the Laborer humanoid walks at a pace of 5 k/h (3 mph). Its maximum torque reaches 380 Nm. The joints are built from advanced materials that increase torque tensity by 17 percent. They have an overload factor of 4.5, which the company says ensures reliability under heavy loads.
The Laborer has 31 primary degrees of freedom (DoF), which if fairly advanced compared to modern humanoids. Chinese robotics firms tend to emphasize degrees of freedom more than their North American counterparts. Other industrial humanoids like the Fourier GR-2, Kepler Forerunner K2, and Xpeng’s Iron boast more than 50 DoF. Each Laborer arm has 7 DoF.
Glory Road’s efforts align with China’s ambitions to scale the production of humanoid robots and lead the emerging market by 2027. It’s headquartered in Wuhan’s Optics Valley.
Founded in 2018, Wuhan Glory Road has more than 400 employees and an R&D building and manufacturing plant exceeding 35,000 square meters. The company is known for producing components for high-end manufacturing equipment and precision instruments and its transformer monitoring systems.
Another humanoid robot showcased at the Wuhan exhibit, Jingchu, features a bionic humanoid head with 20 degrees of freedom for a wide range of facial movements. The researchers at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology who developed the humanoid compare the robot to Tesla’s Optimus but with a more human-like face.
It can be equipped with high-sensitivity electronic skin. When interacting, “Jing Chu” can blink, move the eyeballs, open one eye and close one eye, and can also make expressions such as smile, sadness, and surprise like a human. The robot’s brain processes multi-modal sensory input and controls expressive outputs and interactive behaviors.
Jingchu is intended as a service robot. It joins a growing array of humanoids that emphasize mimicking human appearance like Una by UBTECH Robotics, Sophia by Hanson Robotics, and lifelike creations from China’s EX Robots and Las Vegas-based Realbotix.
Developed alongside Jingchu , Shennong is a lighter robot noted for its exceptional disturbance rejection. Its developers envision Shennong serving alongside Jingchu in smart medical and industrial settings.
Researchers at Wuhan University developed Tianwen, which is noted for its advanced manipulation capabilities. Tianwen has 38 DoF, with dexterous hands capable of fine grip force control. The team says the design is the world’s lowest cost, high reliability robotic hand of its kind. It’s being manufactured in small batches for testing.
Chubao is a series of agile humanoid robots developed by the Wuhan Optics Valley team noted for their high dynamic motion abilities. Their design allow for multiple modes of locomotion. They can walk, run, jump, fall and roll, crawl, and get back up. The robots are geared toward public safety and special operations roles like border security, surveillance, firefighting and disaster rescue.