Bei dieser Robotertagung haben alle offenbar gemacht, dass sie "Geld verdienen wollen".

From August 8th to 11th, the annual World Robot Conference was held in Beijing.

As a WeChat account that has been following the robot industry for a long time, "Bounded UnKnown" has participated in this event for four years, and the feeling this year was particularly different.

From this year's conference, we can clearly feel the booming vitality of the entire robot industry and also sense that its connection with our daily lives is getting closer.

At the end of the World Robot Conference, we would like to share with you our impressions and observations from this year. These are purely subjective experiences and just an opinion. If there is anything incorrect, you are warmly welcome to express your opinion in the comment section.

One keyword: "Many"

Compared with previous World Robot Conferences, the most direct feeling this year was "many". This "many" mainly refers to two aspects: firstly, a large number of people, and secondly, a large number of exhibitor companies.

The large number of people was reflected in the enthusiasm of the visitors.

We only arrived at the venue at noon on August 9th. Although it was lunchtime, people getting off the subway and other vehicles still came continuously. A long queue formed at the traffic light intersection next to the exhibition hall.

Inside the hall, the crowd was even denser. One could hardly move forward as people were crowded shoulder to shoulder. Visually, the overcrowding this year was more than twice as high as last year.

This is the overcrowding. The reason could be either the increase in the number of people or the longer stay of people in the hall. In any case, it reflects to some extent the enthusiasm for the robot exhibition.

And this enthusiasm was largely caused by parents and children. We could sense that the number of "little visitors" this year was significantly higher than in previous years. I remember that at the end of July, I heard in the subway a mother asking her friend for information about the robot conference and planning to take her child there.

I tell this because I think that humanoid robots have become a topic for the general public nowadays. They have lost the mystery of highly complex technology and have become visible and tangible to most people in a friendlier and more intuitive way.

Two years ago, most of the exhibitors in the robot conference hall were still formally - dressed professionals looking for suppliers and business partners. However, today it has become a place for weekend family outings for Beijing residents. It must be said that this is a huge change.

And this change is often the first step when technology steps out of the laboratory into people's lives, integrates into society, and finds real - world applications.

The "large number" of exhibitor companies was reflected in the changes in the hall.

The hall for the World Robot Conference is fixed every year. In addition to the conference area for professional visitors, there are two main halls A and B, and a separate, lower hall C next to them.

In previous years, many small exhibition stands of just a few square meters could still be seen at the edges of halls A and B. Today, these stands have essentially disappeared and have been replaced by large, specially - equipped exhibition stands averaging ten square meters.

Due to its isolated location, hall C was always the quietest hall in previous years, and its content was also relatively marginal. For example, the year before last, mainly military drones, fire - fighting robots, and companies for drives, storage, and transmissions were on display; last year, there were also some exhibitors selling binoculars and taking up many good spots. In addition, hall C was the fixed place for children's technology exchange every year, such as the model airplane - flight - show event.

All in all, hall C had long been a marginal hall. But this year, hall C looked completely different. Various humanoid robot companies stood side by side. Although their exhibition stands were smaller than those of the companies in halls A and B, their level of professionalism was no worse than that in halls A and B. As a result, hall C was full of life this year instead of being quiet.

And from the change in visitors and the increase in exhibitor companies, one can actually see that the development process of the robot industry has been continuously expanding in the past two years, the value - chain has been gradually completed, the application scenarios have become richer, and more and more new companies have begun to get involved.

And this change also shows that the entire robot industry has undergone a generational change.

I still remember that four years ago, when I first visited the robot conference, the hall was categorized by application scenarios. There were separate areas for construction robots, agricultural robots, industrial robots, flexible robotic arms, etc.

Today, this traditional classification model has been completely broken. Many of the previous exhibitor companies have gradually disappeared in the past two years, and only a few leading companies remain in the exhibition area.

In the past two years, the industry around humanoid robots has almost comprehensively updated and redesigned the entire robot conference.

One keyword: "Entertainment"

When entering the exhibition area, the second obvious feeling this year, besides the "overcrowding", was the "noise". It felt as if this was not an industry exhibition but rather a Universal Studios or a Happy Valley.

"Noise" is not a negative word here. On the contrary, it is a sign of the lively atmosphere of the entire conference. And the source of the "noise" came from some robot companies that were trying to entertain people.

JD.com became the exclusive global strategic partner of the World Robot Conference this year and brought the entire live - sales booth to the robot conference and shouted the slogan "Buy robots at JD.com". In addition to JD.com, Unitree Technology built a ring, and the humanoid robots engaged in fierce battles;

Opposite Unitree Technology, Zhongqing Robotics held "group - live shows", danced with human actors, and walked on the catwalk. Next to it, Accelerate Evolution organized a football championship. The host kept arousing the enthusiasm of the audience, and one could hear from afar the voices of the little spectators cheering unanimously for the robots.

Entertainment has become an important keyword for this year's World Robot Conference. Naturally, it is also the most important keyword for the entire humanoid robot industry in the past two years.

Since last year, humanoid robot companies have started to organize various activities to attract more attention. From Unitree Technology's external display at the Olympic Gala to the first half - marathon championship for humanoid robots in Beijing Yizhuang, from Accelerate Evolution's football championship to Unitree's robot boxing match...

The role of humanoid robots has changed from working in the factory last year to "entertaining performances" this year.

Maybe someone will say that humanoid robots are "unproductive" in this way. But actually, "organizing activities" has become a way of survival for most humanoid robot companies.

Firstly, "organizing activities" can directly show the technical strength of humanoid robots.

For example, the half - marathon can test the comprehensive ability of humanoid robots in terms of continuous environmental perception, real - time dynamic balance, environmental adaptation, energy management, gait planning, etc.; and folding clothes can show their high - precision and adaptive control ability when dealing with flexible objects.

I still remember that last year, humanoid robots mainly only served as walking demonstrations. And while walking, they had to be supported by engineers. Most robots could only be shown for a short time and were then hung on a rack and became a "flower vase", operating for five minutes and resting for two hours.

But this year, the "variations" of humanoid robots are completely different - catwalk shows, dancing, boxing, playing football, grasping objects, making coffee, etc. All these scenarios show the great progress of humanoid robots in the past one or more years in terms of human - machine control, adaptability, energy management, etc.

Secondly, "organizing activities" is also a necessary means for humanoid robot companies to gain public attention.

Given the fact that commercial implementation is not yet fully completed, most robot companies still have to rely on financing. And the wide public attention is the strength for robot companies to increase their corporate value and promote financing.

And finally, and most importantly, "organizing activities" is also an important way for robot companies to achieve commercial implementation.

This situation is interesting. When humanoid robots first emerged, the idea was that they would be household helpers, movers in the automobile factory, or transporters of parts on the production line. Both Musk's promise that everyone would have a robot in the future and the efforts of well - known robot companies to enter the factory prove this problem.

However, in view of the technological development in the past two years, robots are neither more flexible than my 80 - year - old grandmother when moving and selecting parts in the factory nor when folding clothes and cleaning at home.

But just when people start to doubt humanoid robots, some random activities have become a lifesaver for them.

In the past two years, the most profitable application scenario for humanoid robots has not been working in the factory or being a household helper at home, but being rented for performances in tourist areas, acting as NPCs, and taking photos with tourists, etc.

A more professional example is Optimus Prime and Megatron in Universal Studios, which are currently the most important application scenarios for humanoid robots. And today, new robot companies are also starting to get involved in this area.

One thought: Everyone writes "Make money" on their foreheads

Besides entertainment, it was even more obvious this year that everyone wanted to make more money.

For example, a gripper arm company put up a huge price poster at the most prominent place of its stand: The price of a single gripper arm is only 18,000 yuan. Some companies put up rows of roll - up posters announcing "National search for distributors" and left QR codes for private contacts. Some companies directly looked for salespeople and distribution partners at the conference, and some even pasted the purchase link on the chest of the robot and said, "Scan the code and own me in advance!"

If we say that in previous years, companies were still mainly focused on technology and hid the intention of "making money" and tried to be reserved, then this year, companies have almost written "want to make money" on their foreheads.

The more subtle aspect of this change was reflected in the position of the EX robot.

EX is a company for bionic robots. In previous years, it was because of its realistic and anthropomorphic...