The four-day World Robot Conference 2021 concluded in Beijing on Monday. Themed “Inject Momentum and Share Results to Build a Win-Win Collaboration Society,” the conference attracted over 110 companies which brought everything from industrial assembly line robots to humanoid servants and machines capable of performing intricate surgery.

A Chinese-speaking “Albert Einstein” robot was one of more than 500 intelligent machines on display in the capital’s E-Town, an industrial park-turned technology mecca in Daxing District.

Other standouts include a dog robot equipped with high-quality cameras and radar sensors. The canine machine, made by DeepRobotics, can detect its own posture in real time to remain flexible and stable, the company’s marketing manager said. “Its biggest advantage is that it can replace humans to complete some tasks in complex and dangerous scenarios,” they added. “For example, it can adapt to terrains such as stairs, slopes, gravel roads and grass.”

There’s also what’s referred to as a nursing robot — a mechanized wheelchair that can take someone to a bathtub or toilet, then back to bed, all on its own. Its founder sees China, with its large elderly population, as the biggest market for this type of AI. They said: “Most young people today are unwilling to engage in this job. Therefore, there is a huge gap in the workers who can take care of elderly people, and this gap has brought great problems to the country and society.”

Elsewhere, another humanoid robot boasts being able to play the piano and chess and can even write and draw pictures. Measuring 1.45 meters tall and weighing 77 kilograms, the service robot can also offer massages, perform chores such as hovering, and can operate coffee machines and open the fridge.

Other humanoids have been designed to be fountains of knowledge able to answer almost any question posed by a regular human, making them ideal for the likes of museums, tourist attractions, train stations or airports.

The latest developments in parcel delivery were also on display, with one robot designed to carry packages to a customer’s doorstep and release them using facial recognition technology. Such robots have already been put into use in Beijing during the pandemic, as they reduce human-to-human contact and lower the risk of transmission.

(SD-Agencies)