Zhang Yu

JeniZhang13@163.com

UBTECH Robotics has teamed up with FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co. to explore the extensive use of humanoid robots in industrial settings at the Sino-German carmaker’s factory in Qingdao, Shandong Province. The companies aim to establish highly intelligent and adaptable production lines and a super-automated automobile factory.

The Beijing branch of Shenzhen-based UBTECH, one of the world’s major humanoid robot firms, and FAW-Volkswagen, a joint venture between China FAW Group Co. and German automaker Volkswagen AG, signed an agreement in Beijing on Monday.

According to the agreement, FAW-Volkswagen will open production lines at its national-level smart manufacturing demonstration factory in Qingdao to UBTECH and use the Shenzhen firm’s Walker S industrial humanoid robot to perform tasks such as bolt tightening, part installation, and part transfers.

UBTECH will leverage its resources in research and development to enhance the use of humanoid robots in industrial settings, aiding FAW-Volkswagen in improving the intelligence and automation of its manufacturing plant. This will result in the creation of highly intelligent and adaptable production lines and a super-automated automobile factory.

The two firms also seek to cooperate in multiple fields, such as industrial logistics robots and supply chains, aiming to reduce the cost of humanoid robot hardware and promote the development of new technologies and industries, according to the agreement.

The Walker S robot has worked in four different auto factories to date, including Chinese EV automaker NIO’s assembly line in Anhui Province and Dongfeng Liuzhou Motor Co.’s assembly line in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.