Taking the “express train” of artificial intelligence to promote industrial development into “robot +”

Thanks to the continuous development of emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things and cloud computing, robots have acquired functions such as environmental perception, self-learning, and intelligent decision-making. As robots become more and more intelligent, they will also play a major role in various fields, pushing the development of various industries in my country into the "robot +" stage.

Taking the "express train" of artificial intelligence to promote industrial development into the "robot +" stage

Currently, robots circulating on the market are mainly divided into three categories: industrial robots, service robots and special robots. Among these three categories of robots, industrial robots are the fastest growing. It is the main force of smart factories, using "machines to replace people" to promote the transformation of traditional industries to modernization and automation, and promote the replacement of demographic dividends with technological dividends. "Machines to replace people" can not only improve labor productivity and solve employment problems, but also improve occupational health and safety production levels. This will become an inevitable choice for the transformation and upgrading of industrial enterprises. It is also a good helper for scientific farming. Robots + agriculture will bring a new revolution to agriculture. It can also realize "one-stop" intelligent logistics services from sorting to delivery. Robot technology plays an increasingly important role in the logistics operation process and will become an important factor in leading the development trend of modern logistics industry.

Driven by industrial policies and market demand, my country's industrial robot industry has achieved rapid growth in recent years. The industrialization capabilities of leading enterprises in the industry have been continuously improved. At the same time, more and more new enterprises are also actively engaged in the robot industry. According to the statistics of the application industry, the automobile and electronics industries are the main application areas of domestic industrial robots. Among them, the automobile industry is the largest application industry of industrial robots, accounting for 38%, which is similar to the corresponding international proportion; while the electronics industry accounts for 18.1%. Other application industries include rubber and plastics, military industry, aviation manufacturing, food industry, medical equipment, metal products and other fields.

In recent years, by expanding downstream application services and opening up traditional markets to accept emerging production methods, home appliances, rail transportation, ships and other fields are the main battlefields for the future application of robots. In new areas of general industrial applications, such as the photovoltaic industry, power battery manufacturing, food industries including alcohol, beverages, dairy industry, sugar, etc., as well as chemical fiber, glass fiber, brick and tile manufacturing, hardware grinding, metallurgical casting, medicine and other industries, there are links and space for industrial robots to replace manual labor. It is expected that the market potential and industrial scale of industrial robots will continue to grow at least in the next 10 to 20 years.

Under industrial robots, the market potential of service robots is also unpredictable. It can be a calm and intelligent doctor, helping medical workers to better serve patients in the "robot +" medical era. It can also be a housework expert who frees you from complicated affairs. At present, robots have begun to enter homes and offices to replace people in cleaning, washing, guarding, cooking, caring for the elderly and children, receiving guests, answering and making phone calls, printing documents and other tasks. It can also be a knowledgeable lecturer to accompany children to learn happily. "Robot +" education is usually interesting, challenging and imaginative. In the process of education, robots, as a capable assistant for teaching and learning, are creating a new way of education in the future.

At present, my country's household service robots mainly include sweeping robots, education, entertainment, security robots, medical robots, etc. In the future, the aging problem of Chinese society will become increasingly severe, and the proportion of disabled people in my country's total population ranks among the top in the world. The care of these two types of people will become an important burden on society. Service robots can effectively solve this problem; as people's pace of life accelerates, people have less and less time to do housework, and service robots can share a certain amount of housework burden for people. In addition, some delicate and dangerous work in the working environment also needs to be completed by robots. For example, when performing minimally invasive surgery or remote surgery, the service robot can meet the high degree of refinement.

Service robots were born out of market demand, so they became a consumer product. In the future, they will be released in large quantities depending on specific application scenarios. Service robot application scenarios can be divided into three levels. Sweeping robots and educational robots are expected to be the first to be released in large quantities. Service robot demand scenarios can be divided into three categories according to the degree of marketization: upgrading of original demand scenarios, replacement of existing demand scenarios, and exploration of unknown demand scenarios.

Upgrading of original demand scenarios means that there are already mapping products in the market, including early childhood education robots and sweeping robots. The replacement of existing demand scenarios is that service robots are adopted because the procurement cost of robots is lower than the labor cost, including intelligent customer service, accompanying robots, etc. The demand for exploration of unknown demand scenarios is not strong at this stage. It is not a necessary consumer product and the demand rigidity is weak, such as housekeeper robots.

Among these three scenarios, we are optimistic about the upgrading of original demand and the replacement of existing demand. In terms of specific scenarios, sweeping robots and educational robots are our optimistic entry points for demand scenarios.

Finally, let's talk about special robots, which are robots used for special purposes such as public safety, investigation, police explosion protection, and unmanned operation in dangerous environments in non-manufacturing environments. However, the research and development of special robots in my country started late, and its market is still in the cultivation period.

At present, the research and development of special robots in my country is mainly based on scientific research projects in universities and colleges, and there is still a distance from large-scale industrialization. Domestic listed companies engaged in the development and production of special robots include CITIC Heavy Industries, Robotics, and China Electronics Xinlong. According to estimates, the total market size of the domestic special robot technology field is as high as more than 400 billion yuan. Whether it is independent research and development or general modular design, any sub-field will gain a market space of tens of billions.