Der Milliarden-Dollar-Markt für Hochleistungs-Flugroboter erlebt einen Boom: Shihe Robotics hat eine Runde B+++++-Finanzierung abgeschlossen, und Gecko Robotics hat eine Runde-D-Finanzierung abgeschlossen.
Under the spotlight on Embodied Intelligence and humanoid robots, a niche market is quietly on the verge of a breakthrough.
According to a study by an independent market analysis firm, the penetration rate of wall - climbing robots in the Chinese shipbuilding industry has already reached 20%. Generally, this figure signals the turning point towards mass - market penetration.
Bold capital has already started to invest in this niche market. Across the ocean, Gecko Robotics completed a $125 million Series D financing in June this year, catapulting its post - valuation to $1.25 billion. Around the same time, Chinese market leader Shihe Robotics completed several rounds of financing between Series B+ and Series B+++++ worth hundreds of millions of yuan.
Wall - climbing robots meet the automation needs in high - altitude environments, covering industries such as shipbuilding, chemical, energy, construction, and other core infrastructure sectors. This offers a wide range of use cases. Technically, the requirements for wall - climbing robots are more complex than those for ground robots. They must have reliable adhesion and mobility, high load - bearing capacity, and intelligence.
After years of industry development and the completion of the entire robot value - chain, wall - climbing robots have achieved technological breakthroughs in core components such as magnetic adhesion materials and joint motors. The broad application needs and mature technologies are bringing this “hidden” niche market into focus.
A huge market yet to be fully explored
When Shihe Robotics was founded in 2015, there was no comprehensive industrial understanding of the wall - climbing robot niche market in China. The term “wall - climbing robot” hadn't even been coined.
According to the classification of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), mobile robots are divided into four categories according to their working environment: land, sea, air, and space, namely ground robots, underwater robots, facade robots, and drones. Looking at the market situation at that time, ground applications such as logistics, services, and household cleaning were already occupied by various brands. In the water, it was mainly ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles) and AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) dominated by manufacturers like DeepBlue. In the field of drones, companies like DJI were on the rise.
The vertical working area of “facades”, on the other hand, was still a vast open field - there was no company in the world mass - producing facade robots. Xu Huayang, the founder and CEO of the company, was researching in the field of robotics during his doctoral studies at Tsinghua University. He realized that this gap in the industry might present new opportunities. “The facade area is also an important application direction for mobile robots. There should be its own platforms and product categories, and there is a possibility that a billion - dollar company could emerge here.” Based on this market analysis, he founded Shihe Robotics and thus started his venture in the field of “wall - climbing robots”.
If Shihe Robotics derives the feasibility of a venture in the wall - climbing robot field from niche market analysis, then the necessity and inevitability of developing wall - climbing robots come from the concept of “robots replacing humans”.
The core of “robots replacing humans” lies not in technology demonstration, but in cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and quality enhancement. The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) noted in its five trends for the robotics industry at the beginning of this year that dangerous, difficult, dirty, and dull “4D” jobs should be prioritized for automation. High - altitude work clearly falls into this category.
The national standard GB/T3608 - 2008 “Classification of High - altitude Work” defines high - altitude work as work at a height of 2 meters or more above the fall - height reference plane, where there is a risk of falling. Accordingly, there are numerous high - altitude work areas in industries such as shipbuilding, chemical, energy, and in the construction of buildings, bridges, tunnels, and airports.
Worksite of Shihe Robotics' facade - cleaning robot BeeBot Pro
In the past, these high - altitude jobs were mainly done manually, which was not only inefficient and costly but also associated with a high safety risk. According to an independent study, falls from heights still account for over 54% of all accidents in the construction industry.
Currently, the shipbuilding industry is undergoing a structural transformation due to the increasing penetration rate of wall - climbing robots.
On the one hand, environmental protection laws are phasing out traditional environmentally harmful methods, and high - pressure water derusting is becoming the standard method. However, its dangers and limitations in work performance are becoming more and more obvious. Robots have strong adhesion and high load - bearing capacity. Their work performance is 6 - 8 times higher than that of humans, and they can complete the work above the waterline at the quay, reducing the dry - dock time by 20% - 30% and increasing the dry - dock capacity. On the other hand, the shipbuilding industry is facing problems with an aging workforce and the recruitment of young workers. The average age of workers is over 52 years old, and few young workers enter this industry. The application of wall - climbing robots can fill this structural gap.
Thus, wall - climbing robots are becoming the key to improving efficiency and safety in this billion - dollar industry.
Worksite of Shihe Robotics' ship - derusting robot HighMate V40 Ultra
Currently, the penetration rate of wall - climbing robots in the shipbuilding industry continues to rise. The overall rate has reached the 20% turning point, and a breakthrough is in sight.
Developable solutions
Although the penetration rate of wall - climbing robots is increasing year by year, it is still a young and developing market compared to other types of robots.
The long market - education phases have several reasons: complex use cases and changing operating conditions, the still - evolving technologies of wall - climbing robots themselves, and insufficient market awareness. From the perspective of industry users, they were long skeptical of this niche market, which was formerly known by the technically specific name “wall - climbing robot”. They carefully observed the operational stability, financial aspects, and possible safety responsibilities.
But this situation is slowly being broken through the gradual overcoming of core technology problems.
Compared to ground robots, wall - climbing robots inherently have higher technical requirements at the most basic physical level. Their operation depends not only on adhesion to the facade but also on the dynamic balance between suction force, load - bearing capacity, and friction force, as well as the moment equilibrium. Too strong a suction force leads to slow movement, while too weak a suction force risks slipping or falling. The magnetic adhesion of wall - climbing robots to steel facades was previously limited due to material properties.
Today, the neodymium - iron - boron magnetic material in the magnet modules has undergone several upgrades, and the magnetic force has continuously improved with the same size. The continuous improvement of adhesion and load - bearing capacity allows the robots to work stably and safely even during high - pressure water jet derusting and adaptive force - controlled grinding operations.
Another important factor is the technology of joint motors. Thanks to the rapid development of mobile robots and legged robots in recent years, joint motors have been significantly improved in terms of torque, weight reduction, and reaction sensitivity. This means a significant weight reduction for the entire robot and a higher load - to - weight ratio. Some products of Shihe Robotics already achieve a load - to - weight ratio of 3:1. According to an independent study, the current industry average is 2:1.
In addition, advances in AI perception and navigation enable the robots to autonomously perceive, avoid obstacles, plan paths, and position themselves in complex facade environments. Through the combination of visual recognition and laser measurement, some models can already achieve centimeter - accurate positioning in complex operating conditions and even enable a certain “facade navigation”. This enables the development from manually remote - controlled operations to semi - and fully automated processes, thereby lowering the usage threshold and operating costs.
It is also important that the improvement of core technologies and the maturity of the entire robot value - chain are enabling many companies to recognize the financial benefits of wall - climbing robots. The logic and conditions for rapid penetration in the shipbuilding industry are likely to be replicated in the chemical industry soon.
The chemical industry has a large number of tanks and pressure vessels that need regular maintenance. The working conditions are dangerous and confined. The industry has similar characteristics to the shipbuilding industry: high risks, frequent operations, and high payment capacity. In addition, environmental legislation, an aging workforce, and regulations are also present. Shihe Robotics has already taken these trends into account in its business structure.
Shihe Robotics has stated that although the shipbuilding industry still accounts for the largest share of sales, its share is decreasing year by year. Xu Huayang said, “Because our business volume in other industries such as chemical and energy is steadily growing.”
Xu Huayang believes that in the long run, the potential for wall - climbing robots to replace humans in the energy industry will also be unleashed. In the energy production of coal - fired power plants and wind farms, wall - climbing robots are used to improve work performance and replace manual scaffolding installation. Especially in high - risk environments such as offshore wind farms, wall - climbing robots have better surface adaptability and higher precision in path control than humans. Given the long lifespan and frequent maintenance of energy infrastructure, the application of wall - climbing robots in the energy industry has clear long - term strategic value.
It is evident that through the combination of technology, policy, and a proven ROI, the wall - climbing robot industry is ready to take a leap to the next level.
The next breakthrough point: Wall - climbing robots + Inspection + AI
Actually, the idea of automated products represented by robots is not new. There have already been several waves of “robots replacing humans” in the industry. Examples are robotic arms on the production line and transport robots in factories. The current wave of robots focuses not only on automation but also on the ability of robots to learn, understand, and make decisions autonomously.
This is why Gecko Robotics is being supported by investors. Gecko Robotics, founded in 2016, focuses on providing high - altitude inspection robots for dangerous infrastructures such as petrochemical, energy, and military. Well - known global venture capitalists like Founders Fund and Y Combinator are betting not only on the hardware capabilities of the robots but also on the role of the robots as a data - collection and modeling interface.
Source: Gecko Robotics website
Official information shows that Gecko has developed its own asset - management system called Cantilever. Customers can view all the inspection data collected by the robots on a central platform. In addition, the system can analyze the data and support customers with maintenance predictions, such as predicting pipeline breaks and optimizing operating parameters. This data - platform capability has transformed Gecko from a pure hardware provider to a “data + decision - support” provider, thus creating a real competitive advantage.
