Chinese-made AI robot explores extreme high-risk industrial jobs
Beijing (ANTARA) - At the height of a vertical steel wall of a chemical tank, a silver figure moves nimbly without wearing a safety harness.
Using one arm, it operates a welding torch with precision, while with the other arm, it scans for damage meticulously.
This is not a scene from a science fiction film, but rather the real-world application of China’s latest step in the global technology competition, namely embodied AI for high-risk industrial tasks.
The robot, developed by a technology company in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, represents a significant leap in China’s efforts to integrate advanced AI with physical robotics. It is designed to replace human workers in some of the most hazardous environments, from towering chemical plants to the hulls of giant ships.
“Previously, workers had to hang in the air for hours, battered by wind and scorching sun, and inhale dust until breathless,” said Xu Huayang, founder and CEO of RobotPlusPlus manufacturer, as reported by Xinhua.
“Now, an operator in a cool control room, wearing VR glasses, just needs to move their wrist, and the robot on the wall will mimic that movement with millisecond-level response.”
Weighing 90 kilograms, the robot’s lower part consists of a wheeled chassis that attaches magnetically, allowing stable movement even when supporting the weight equivalent to an adult. The upper part is equipped with two humanoid arms with 15 degrees of freedom, enabling the robot to switch seamlessly between various tasks such as welding, defect detection, rust removal, and spraying by simply changing the tool at the end of its arms.
The key to its flexibility is what Xu calls the “brain”, a large-scale AI model specifically trained for specialised operations. This model is reported to be the richest in data in China for its kind, with an accumulation of over 100,000 hours of operational time and a travel distance equivalent to more than half the Earth’s circumference.
“Every high-altitude operation is a data sample, and every dataset is immediately used for model iteration,” Xu explained. This “operation as data collection” feedback cycle allows the robot to become smarter with practical use, integrating AI into extreme physical environments.
China’s Push
A domestically developed underwater cable detection robot has recently begun to be used.
Acting as an underwater “scout”, this robot can autonomously inspect cables to depths of 300 metres. Working together with unmanned surface vessels, it increases inspection efficiency up to tenfold compared to conventional manual methods, while strengthening the security of China’s offshore energy and communication networks.
In China’s agricultural sector, intelligent grain levelling robots handle heavy tasks in grain management in large silos.
Equipped with special spiral wheels, this robot can move quickly over grain piles. A team of three such robots can level grain in a 1,400 square metre silo in less than one day, a job that typically requires three human workers for three days.
This wave of innovation is no coincidence. Embodied AI is explicitly named as a new engine of economic growth in China’s latest five-year plan starting in 2026. The strategy is to promote the development of major future industries, including robotics, AI, and 6G.
These advances are supported by what experts call a comprehensive and diverse industrial ecosystem as well as real-world application scenarios. Major industrial clusters have developed rapidly in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, encompassing more than 24,000 companies, from core components to full system integration.
In this expansive environment, China’s vast industrial scenario ecosystem, from standard logistics to hazardous operations, has driven its robotics industry towards an application-oriented evolution. This shift, supported by the world’s most diverse testing grounds, is now redefining the global robotics market value chain.