The Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily October 12 report (Reporter: Zhang Yangyang) Under the humanoid robot frenzy, China Mobile has officially entered the game.

At the 2024 China Mobile Global Partners Conference held today, China Mobile unveiled their humanoid robot 'Fengqi' for the first time.

According to the on-site staff who spoke to the Science and Technology Innovation Board reporter, this robot, named 'Fengqi,' is self-developed by China Mobile and is intended to mainly serve household scenarios in the future. However, at the current stage, this robot is still a prototype and not yet commercially available.

At this conference, China Mobile showcased a total of 4 robots, including wheeled companion robot 'Xiaojia,' robot dog 'Xiaoli,' wheeled arm robot 'Xiaozhi,' and a humanoid bipedal robot. The humanoid bipedal robot with human form, 'Xiaozhi,' and the bipedal robot were the most attention-grabbing robots on-site.

In an interview with Star Daily, Zhang Wencheng, the technical management manager of the Family Vision Product Department of the China Mobile Smart Home Operations Center, stated that China Mobile started independent research and development of humanoid robots last year, with already investing billions of dollars. It is expected that next year, in semi-structured environments such as nursing homes or communities, there will be pilot tests of humanoid robots performing simple tasks to achieve labor replacement. Official commercialization is expected in 3-5 years.

According to Zhang Wencheng, Siasun Robot&Automation positioned Xiaozhi as a personalized assistant in the field of general household, dedicated to meeting the labor replacement needs in home scenarios. Technologically, this robot integrates large-scale model technology, sensor technology, intelligent path planning algorithms, and multi-task processing capabilities, while achieving full-body cooperative operation of hands, waist, head, and other joints.

The bipedal robot has the same upper limb functionality as the wheel-arm robot Xiaozhi, capable of item grasping, tool operation, voice interaction, and supports tasks such as IoT control, autonomous navigation, and person localization. Long Xiang is positioned as a versatile butler in the general household scenario, with future development directions including but not limited to home, office, and industrial scenarios.

Compared to the higher technical threshold humanoid robots, the research and commercialization progress of Xiaojia and Xiaoli robots has been much faster.

In these two years of booming large-scale models, the exploration of the combination of humanoid robots and AI has become a hot topic that domestic and international players in the industry have been actively pursuing. Companies like Tesla, Xiaomi, Xiaopeng, Siasun Robot&Automation, Yushu, Silver Universe, Stardust Intelligence, Ubitus, and Xingdong Era are among the hundreds of technology companies that have entered this field and taken a leading position in the industry.

The number of various humanoid robots released globally has exceeded 150, while in China, over 60 humanoid robots have been introduced. Some manufacturers' robot products have already entered the delivery phase, making this market both lively and highly competitive.

Zhang Tongying stated that China Mobile will not participate in the entire research and development of humanoid robots from start to finish, mainly playing a role in driving the industry, independently designing and developing software, while hardware production will be carried out through cooperative production, leveraging the advantages of mobile scenarios, data, and users to drive the entire industry chain for commercial implementation.

"For example, the depth camera and two-finger gripper of the robot are all using existing mature technology products," Zhang Tongying said, "As humanoid robot product research and development upgrade, there will also be more cooperation with technology providers in the future."