Das "Muster eines Subversivisten" auf der WRC 2025: Die von Geburt an reife Luming-Roboter
At the venue of the WRC 2025, people swarmed around the various exhibition stands and admired the differently shaped humanoid robots. There were also well - known names at the event such as Unitree, Zhipu, and Galaxy. In comparison, the robots of one company initially didn't attract as much attention.
When one approached their exhibition stand, the robot danced along with the music. The dance movements were fluid and seamless, and even the rhythmic fluctuations of the steps matched the music. Then, the staff at the stand made the robot sit down, and the stand started timing simultaneously. One could see that the modules at the robot's hips and knees responded instantly, and in just one second, it leaped up from the ground and stood steadily, without any unnecessary movement.
This lightning - fast leap made the robot company, which was present at the WRC for the first time, suddenly catch people's eyes.
This company is Luming Robotics. It was founded only last September, but in less than a year, it has completed almost all the preparations that other humanoid robot manufacturers had to do over several years.
In view of the industry situation, there are currently different competitive paths for Chinese humanoid robot manufacturers. There are companies like Ubtech, Unitree, and Zhipu, which originated from the robotics industry; Topsstar and EFORT have transformed from industrial manufacturing into the robotics industry; technology giants like Huawei have focused on the field of AI; Xiaomi, XPeng, and Tesla use their resources from the automotive industry to extend into the humanoid robotics industry.
Although the competition seems fierce, the industry is still in a critical development phase. The new forces in the robotics industry have not yet formed a stable order cycle, and the transforming companies are restricted by the weak accumulation of Embodied AI technologies.
A company's team structure often determines its starting point.
Yu Chao, the founder of Luming Robotics, studied at Tsinghua University and obtained degrees in mathematics, energy and drive technology, as well as aerospace and aviation. He has 10 years of experience in the research, development, and industrialization of Embodied Robotics. During his time as the leader of the Embodied Robotics Team (Magic Lab) at Dreame, he built the team and carried out the research, development, and mass - production of Xiaomi's Cyberdog and Dreame's quadruped robot. He also established the framework for Embodied hardware and software and developed the world's first electric - motor - driven Embodied robot with reverse roll. The other core members of the company include the former core team of Dreame's Embodied Robotics and other experienced employees from the robotics industry. The research and development team includes several doctoral students from top universities.
Currently, the team has developed products such as the full - sized humanoid robot Lus, the "Giant" MOS robot for industrial logistics scenarios, the small humanoid robot NIX for entertainment and household areas, as well as several integrated joint modules and visuo - tactile sensors. In the first half of this year, the company completed three financing rounds, which shortened the long period of "pilot project - validation" and allowed the company to enter the "pre - production" phase, enabling it to successfully join the top group.
This high starting point and rapid progress are based on the 10 - year industry experience of the Luming team and the accumulation of mass - production experience with over a thousand devices.
One Second to Leap - Overcoming the Technological Limits of Humanoid Robot Movement Control
Currently, the "size distinction" in the humanoid robot market is obvious. The mainstream products like Unitree G1 are about 120 - 130 cm tall. Although they can perform basic movements such as dynamic standing up and swinging on bars, due to their size, they have natural disadvantages in adapting to the human environment - the tools and scenarios that people use in daily life are designed according to the proportions of an adult. Small and medium - sized robots are often restricted when it comes to grasping objects at high places or working at industrial workplaces, which limits their application areas.
In the past, size reduction was often a compromise due to technological limitations. In humanoid robotics, there is a vivid description: "For every additional 10 - cm increase in height, the difficulty of research and development doubles." A greater height directly leads to a higher center of gravity. The center of gravity of a 1.6 - meter robot is 33% higher than that of a 1.2 - meter robot, and the stability threshold in dynamic balance drops significantly. The larger size also affects the joint drives and increases the requirements for the robot's torque and shock load. At the same time, the lengthened limbs increase the robot's moment of inertia, which requires the reconstruction of the movement control algorithm to deal with the strong inertial forces and complex dynamic balance. The increased energy consumption of the system caused by the larger size should also not be ignored, as it affects the robot's working time.
These challenges make the production of full - sized robots a "tough nut to crack".
In scenarios that test the maximum performance, this technological gap becomes even more obvious. At the world's first humanoid robot fighting championship in May this year, a rule was even introduced that a robot that cannot stand up within 8 seconds after falling is declared "KO". These 8 seconds also reflect the limitations of the reaction speed and dynamic balance control of humanoid robots.
Precisely in this context, Luming Robotics presented the world's first full - sized humanoid robot LUS2 this year, which can leap up in one second.
The LUS2 is designed to be the size of an adult, at 160 cm. It can perform long - term movements without being remotely controlled and has a running time of 2 hours at high intensity. It can be used in various scenarios such as education, guidance, and entertainment.
The above - mentioned performance is based on the advantages of Luming Robotics' entire movement control system. According to the company, the LUS2 is equipped with an ultra - fast dynamic balance system. Through an artificial learning algorithm for bionic posture, it can make a decision about the shift of the center of gravity in 1 millisecond, which is 30 times faster than the human reflex nervous system in dynamic adaptability. It is also equipped with an IMU + joint torque + joint angle sensor system, which allows the robot to generate a recovery trajectory in any position. To improve the real - time reaction speed, the real - time control architecture of the LUS2 can synchronize the data acquisition of the sensors, movement planning, and motor drive in the microsecond range. And even if a single joint is suddenly overloaded, it can continue the movement through the torque redistribution of other joints.
In addition, Luming has developed its own actuator with a peak torque of 380 Nm in the development of a biological joint drive system, and its torque density is 233 Nm/kg. Coupled with a reaction time of 0.2 seconds, this is 1.8 times the jumping force of an adult man. The exoskeleton structure protects the internal transmission as much as possible and at the same time absorbs the ground shock forces through a passive compliance system.
The deeper advantage of this technological system lies in the reusability of the technology. The individual modules of the system can be directly applied to movements such as walking and carrying, which allows humanoid robots to step out of the "laboratory".
Three Models in One Year - The Rapid Progress in Research and Development
This year, the term "humanoid robot" has become more and more common in the public. There are numerous competitions and demonstration stands, and even at the WRC 2025, there were 50 humanoid robot manufacturers in the market. The rapid update of the market is not only reflected in frequent technological breakthroughs but also in the rapid development of requirements in different scenarios. Behind this rapid development lies a tough test of the product strategy and research and development system of companies.
One approach to the development of humanoid robots is to focus on a single product or a single technology. It is undeniable that focusing on a single product has advantages in application in specific scenarios and allows companies to quickly start in a single scenario and achieve mass - production. However, the disadvantages of this approach are also obvious. In the early stage of humanoid robotics, the PMF (Product Market Fit) needs to be developed together with users. A single robot can hardly meet the requirements in different scenarios. Therefore, more humanoid robot companies prefer the strategy of "laying eggs on the way", validating multiple technologies simultaneously with different products to avoid missing the opportunity for technological development by focusing on a single solution. To support this strategy, a company must have the ability to rapidly develop and update multiple products.
Luming is one of the few Chinese companies that have an integrated technological system including robot hardware and software. Through the integration of hardware and software, the company has independently developed high - quality integrated joints, visuo - tactile sensors, and other core components. In the field of robot "brains", the company has built a technological foundation for large - scale operation models and whole - body movement control models. Based on its "holistic research and development capacity", Luming has built a modular research and development system like Lego bricks. The reuse of modules enables Luming to develop multiple product lines in parallel while ensuring technological consistency.
This is Luming's competitive strategy - they believe that in the confusion of technological directions, only a technological system that supports the rapid update of multiple products may become the industry infrastructure.
In less than a year, Luming has developed three models of humanoid robots and several components. In the early stage of the industry, this update speed is amazing.
In terms of products, Luming has a variety of products and application areas. In addition to the above - mentioned full - sized humanoid robot Lus series, there is also the "Giant" MOS robot for industrial logistics scenarios. The MOS has a maximum carrying capacity of 50 kg on both arms and is particularly suitable for high - load industrial scenarios. According to industry sources, the maximum carrying capacity of most two - legged robots in the market is less than 20 kg, which represents a performance gap. The MOS robot developed by Luming precisely fills this gap with its maximum carrying capacity of 50 kg and meets the urgent needs of the application areas. In addition, the 80 - cm - tall small humanoid robot NIX is suitable for household companionship and commercial services. It is lightweight, stable, and cost - effective. The other Embodied AI hardware products independently developed by Luming, such as high - quality integrated joints, visuo - tactile sensors, visuo - tactile grippers, 7 - degree - of - freedom data acquisition systems, and data acquisition solutions, are also being launched on the market.
Cooperation with Leading Customers from Different Industries - The Key to Mass Production
Humanoid robots cannot emerge out of thin air. To achieve real mass production, not only do the problems of hardware and component maturity and cost reduction need to be solved, but also high - quality data from real robots, which can only be generated through interaction with real scenarios. Therefore, cooperation with customers from different industries is the choice of humanoid robot manufacturers.
Top companies worldwide have closely connected with real scenarios and conducted case studies. For example, Figure 02 of Figure AI has entered the BMW factory, Optimus of Tesla works in its battery factory, and Walker S of Ubtech works in an automobile factory.
The quality of Luming Robotics' partnerships is also impressive. In the past six months, Luming Robotics has cooperated with companies such as Dematic Technology (SH688360), a provider of intelligent logistics solutions, COSCO Shipping Holdings, a world - leading shipping company, and Mitsubishi Electric, a world - leading provider of digital factory solutions. They are working together on solutions for Embodied AI in scenarios such as... (The text seems incomplete here)