China is accelerating efforts to move humanoid robots beyond demonstrations and into practical, real-world roles, El.kz cites Interesting Engineering.
The country is running robot schools dedicated to training humanoids for various real-world tasks, with the aim of commercializing next-gen robotics.
The move comes after China successfully displayed its humanoid technology at the Spring Festival gala earlier in February. Provinces such as Anhui, Zhejiang, and Shandong are establishing robot training centers in rapid succession to accelerate the commercialization of emerging robotics technologies.
As of now, a training center in Shandong is tutoring dozens of humanoids in basic tasks such as carrying trays, folding clothes, and retrieving water from shelves.
Training robots requires far more complex data than most other AI fields. Unlike text or images used to train traditional artificial intelligence models, the data needed for humanoid robots cannot be sourced online; it must be generated through direct interaction with the machines.
The data in question includes information on joint movements, speed, rotation, visual input, touch, pressure, and force.
To support this effort, China had established more than 40 state-backed robot data collection centers by the end of last year, with 24 already in operation.
These facilities typically house dozens of robots in large office-like spaces spanning thousands of square meters, where human operators repeatedly perform simple tasks alongside the machines to generate and record detailed data on key physical actions.
Setting an example
Leju, a humanoid robot company that established a robot training center in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, with state support, has created environments such as an automobile assembly line, a smart home, and an eldercare facility within a 10,000-square-foot ㎡ space. It operates 16 humanoid robot training programs.
In some cases, robots equipped with virtual reality (VR) and motion capture systems perform tasks such as returning empty boxes, sorting materials, and packaging products.
The data generated at this center reaches about 6 million entries per year, the highest in China. The humanoid robots trained there have acquired more than 20 functions, with a reported task success rate of 95%.
At another center in Hubei, around 100 humanoid robots generate data by repeatedly performing actions such as folding and ironing clothes and wiping tables hundreds of times.