Chinese car maker Dongfeng Motor is making big news in the tech world. The company announced that it will start testing human like robots inside its factories very soon. According to Zhang Zhenlin, chief engineer of intelligent technology at Dongfeng, these smart humanoid robots will enter factory floors this October to handle material sorting and quality inspection tasks.
By the end of this year, Dongfeng plans to start small batch trial production of these robots. The company aims to make these machine workers as capable as human workers by the end of 2027. The humanoid robot, named Xiaodong, was showcased at the World Robot Conference. It is designed to learn complex operations rather than just simple repetitive tasks.
Along with Xiaodong, Dongfeng unveiled a four legged robot dog named Yuanzai. This robot dog can navigate automatically and interact with people smoothly. Yuanzai will enter commercial use even faster than Xiaodong, working at car dealerships to guide customers, patrol campuses, and offer smart assistance.
Dongfeng is not alone in this exciting race. Other top Chinese automakers like XPeng, Chery, Li Auto, Seres, and Leapmotor are also developing intelligent robots. They believe that their car manufacturing supply chains and artificial intelligence experience will help them quickly mass produce smart robots for real world use.
