Humanoid robots are popular, how far are they from us?

In August 2021, at the Tesla AI Day event, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the Tesla Humanoid Robot (Tesla Bot) plan, code-named "Optimus". A year later, the "Optimus Prime" prototype was officially unveiled and demonstrated operations such as carrying boxes, watering plants, and moving metal rods. Musk expects future production to reach millions of units, and the target price may be less than $20,000.

With the launch of "Optimus Prime", the emerging track of humanoid robots has attracted widespread attention in the market. Does this mean the beginning of the commercialization of humanoid robots? Woolen cloth?

Review of the development of humanoid robots

Before discussing this issue, we first need to review the development history of humanoid robots.

In fact, humans have been exploring humanoid robots for a long time. Let’s take the time back to the end of the 15th century. Around 1495, the Italian scientist Leonardo da Vinci drew a sketch of a humanoid robot in a manuscript. This robot was designed to look like a knight, but it was limited by its technological level. , its body movements can only be driven by wind energy and water power.

Until 1973, Japan's Waseda University launched the life-size robot WAROT-1, which was equipped with mechanical hands and feet, artificial vision and hearing devices. It could grab and carry objects by hand through tactile sensors, and speak simple Japanese. dialogue. However, WAROT-1's mobility is very weak, and it takes 45 seconds to take one step.

In the 21st century, with the development of artificial intelligence, big data, edge computing, cloud computing and other technologies, humanoid robots have made a qualitative leap. For example, in 2013, Kirobo, a robot jointly developed by the University of Tokyo, Dentsu Group and Toyota, has facial recognition capabilities and can talk to astronauts; in 2016, Boston Dynamics' humanoid robot Atlas was officially unveiled, which can act like humans It walks upright with its legs. After several years of updates and iterations, Atlas has been able to complete various difficult parkour sports. In 2020, the American startup Agility Robotics announced that its bipedal robot Digit can carry goods without human intervention and can be used in logistics, warehousing, industry and other scenarios. In 2021, Japan's Toyota will launch Busboy, which can perform 85% of complex human-level tasks... Is the blue ocean market ready to take off?

So, why develop humanoid robots?

Humanoid robots are the most similar to humans among robots. They can walk on two legs, complete some simple actions through the coordination of arms and body, and communicate with humans through simple language.

For example, humanoid robots can go up and down steps, cross obstacles while walking, bend down to lift goods, and perform dance movements similar to humans, which are difficult for other robots to complete. It can be said that humanoid robots have a wide range of application scenarios. Specifically,

1. Ensure human safety: Safety is the most obvious advantage of humanoid robots. They can replace human work in some dangerous workplaces and harsh working conditions to maximize safety.

2. Relieve the dilemma of aging: The problem of population aging is currently emerging around the world. According to the United Nations’ prediction of the development trend of world population aging, the population aged 60 and above will reach 2.1 billion by 2050. . Humanoid robots can take care of the daily life of the elderly and alleviate some of the crises caused by aging.

3. Improve shopping experience: Various stores, administrative departments, and hotels use humanoid robots to provide an unforgettable shopping experience. They help customers find what they're looking for, let visitors know if their size is available, collect customer feedback, and more. Therefore, humanoid robots can save employees and customers valuable time.

4. Highly flexible and mobile: Humanoid robots are highly maneuverable, and their legs can help them move in different directions easily. Therefore, humanoid robots can perform multiple tasks.

As mentioned above, these robots are designed to mimic human behavior. Therefore, some robots are ideal for heavy industrial tasks such as deep sea exploration, space and mining. Additionally, they can be used to operate vehicles, equipment, etc. It can be said that humanoid robots will become important helpers in human daily life.

It should be pointed out that although humanoid robots are on the forefront, it is not easy to achieve commercialization. On the one hand, humanoid robots are a high-tech, comprehensive project involving materials, sensors, control technology, algorithms, exercise physiology, ergonomics and other disciplines, requiring a large investment of funds and technology; on the other hand, humanoid robots lack mature Application scenarios lack practicality.

Therefore, while ensuring performance, focusing on practicality and industry integration, achieving mass production and reducing costs will become the key to supporting the development of the humanoid robot industry.

Write at the end:

According to market research firm Marketsandmarkets, the global humanoid robot market size will increase from US$1.5 billion in 2022 to US$17.3 billion in 2027, with a compound growth rate of 63.5%. According to data released by Stratistics Market Research Consulting, the global humanoid robot market has reached US$1.51 billion in 2021, and the market size is expected to reach US$26.43 billion by 2028, with a compound growth rate of 50.5%

Currently, Humanoid robots are still in the early stages of development and have huge potential for market growth. It is believed that with the influx of more new players and the continuous maturation of technology, humanoid robots will eventually enter thousands of households.

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