At first glance, China’s UBTECH Walker S1 humanoid isn’t as impressive as Figure AI, Tesla’s Optimus, or Boston Dynamics’ Atlas.
A demo video on the company’s YouTube channel shows that the Walker S1 lacks the agility of its better-known counterparts. Perhaps its modest design and less dramatic features have contributed to its low profile in popular media.
But for UBTECH, that’s not the focus of its Walker series of humanoid robots. They just want to transfer them to the real world, right away.
Walker humanoids are already feral
UBTECH partners with major automakers to integrate the Walker S1 into their production lines. Interestingly, BYD, Tesla’s biggest competitor in China, already has the Walker S1 on its assembly line and has ordered 500 more robots in the future.
According to a report in the South China Morning Post, the humanoid will work with logistics vehicles and intelligent manufacturing management systems to automate large-scale operations.
In addition to BYD, UBTECH’s Walker S1 has been integrated into EV manufacturer NIO’s advanced manufacturing facility F2 and has successfully performed several quality and inspection tests at the production level. UBTECH claims this is the first introduction of its kind to an assembly line, where humanoid robots work alongside humans to assemble and quality inspect cars.
Zeekr, another Chinese EV giant, conducted some tests using the Walker S Lite. The robot successfully demonstrated its ability to “handle parcels” after three weeks of training.
Walker S lite was also used in several scenarios to perform quality checks and inspections on one of FAW Volkswagen’s production lines.
Meanwhile, another UBTECH robot, Walker S, deployed by Chinese car company Dongfeng Liuzhou Automobile successfully inspected, filled fluids and attached emblems to car bodies.
Tesla’s Optimus humanoid has demonstrated superior capabilities, albeit in a simulated environment inside. Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot is currently being tested only by parent company Hyundai. Earlier this year, Figure announced partnerships with BMW, Sanctuary AI, and auto parts supplier Magna.
Despite this, as of August, there were still no figure humanoid robots in BMW’s facilities, and no further developments have been seen since Sanctuary AI announced its partnership with Magna.
Most of these humanoid robots are thoroughly tested and refined within a simulated environment before being released in a real environment.
This doesn’t mean Walker S1 is incompetent. Possesses moderate dexterity and stable walking ability. The height is 172 cm, the weight is 76 kg, and the load capacity is 15 kg.
Humanoids have a 360-degree field of vision and can function in common environments. A few months ago, UBTECH also partnered with Chinese internet search company Baidu to integrate large-scale language models into their systems.
Therefore, Walker S1 is theoretically equivalent to any bipedal humanoid robot in existence today.
UBTECH wants more customers and faster response
Is it possible to take the plunge and start integrating humanoids directly into the environment? Yes and no.
First, the current application of Walker S1 does not create direct value in the manufacturing chain. In NIO’s production line demonstration, the quality inspection capabilities look impressive, but the pace is very slow.
Traditional fixed-support robotic arms already accomplish this feat with great precision and speed. By comparison, bipedal robots seem overkill and inefficient with their current capabilities.
Nevertheless, the early integration of these robots into the real world increases the chances that UBTECH can improve the humanoids to match the performance of other industry-leading robots.
UBTECH can have advantages when generating training data in real-world situations, often accounting for all the challenges and limitations that can be missed in simulated or internal environments. will be done.
Given the rate of advancement in AI today, how long will it take for these humanoids to overcome some of the significant challenges of traditional robotic systems? As we know from several examples in recent years , it won’t take long.
It also has to do with market dominance. UBTECH hopes to sign contracts with major companies in China’s automotive industry. Additionally, early-stage partnerships with EV giants like BYD could lead to collaborations to develop humanoid robot capabilities.
In this way, Walker S1’s advancements can be made in line with both external expectations and UBTECH’s internal vision for humanoids.
Additionally, China is facing an unprecedented labor shortage. It is estimated that China will lose 30 million workers in major manufacturing industries by 2025.
Working to develop a humanoid robot can dramatically increase the odds of success, especially if the company already has customers.
That said, the Walker S1 is a step ahead of Tesla’s Optimus because it’s already operating in a real-world external environment. Will there also be a leap forward in ability, sophistication, and intelligence? That remains to be seen, but much will depend on the effectiveness of UBTECH’s strategy going forward.
