Electrical Equipment / Components & Telecoms

Xiaomi recently released the first self-developed full-size humanoid bionic robot CyberOne, which has attracted market attention. The humanoid robot industry has huge development potential and is expected to reach a trillion-dollar market size by 2030. Industry insiders said that the humanoid robot industry is still in the early stage of development, technology companies are competing to enter the market, and the industry is accelerating iterative upgrades. But whether the huge blue ocean market can be realized depends on the mass production of products and cost control. Hardware links such as motors, reducers, and structural parts have industrial chain opportunities.

Trillion-level market opens

The full-scale humanoid bionic robot CyberOne released by Xiaomi this time is a new member of the robot Cyber family after Xiaomi’s bionic quadruped robot dog Cyberdog last year. According to Lei Jun, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi Group, CyberOne is 1.77 meters tall and weighs 52kg. It has a smart brain, can perceive 45 human semantic emotions, and distinguish 85 environmental semantics; the cerebellum is also very developed, and Xiaomi has developed its own whole-body control algorithm to coordinate 21 joint degrees of freedom of movement; sharp vision, MiSense visual space system can reconstruct the real world 3D virtual; strong limbs, 5 kinds of joint drive of the whole body, peak torque of 300N.m (Newton meters). Not yet in mass production.

Not long ago, Musk announced that a prototype humanoid robot would be released on September 30. Judging from the announced parameters, this humanoid robot named "Optimus Prime" is 1.72m tall, weighs 57kg, has a load of 20kg, and has a maximum walking speed of 8km/h. "Optimus Prime" will be equipped with the same configuration as Tesla cars. The smart driving camera has a built-in FSD chip and shares the AI system with the car. Musk said that the Optimus Prime mission mainly does dangerous, repetitive and boring tasks for humans.

An industry insider close to Xiaomi Group said: "Head technology companies such as Xiaomi Group and Tesla play a role in setting benchmarks for the market. Xiaomi Group's release of humanoid robots this time has shown the market the future value of humanoid robots, which will Stimulate more funds to invest in humanoid robot-related industrial innovation companies, and provide financial support for such technology companies that require high R&D investment."

The high adaptability of humanoid robots can break through the limitations of industrial, commercial, and home scenarios, and integrate the market space of various applications. It is expected to become another application entry after mobile phones and automobiles, with high commercial value.

According to brokerage estimates, it is estimated that by 2023, the global humanoid robot market will reach 36.5 billion yuan, and by 2025 and 2030, the global market will reach 390.8 billion yuan and 1.9 trillion yuan respectively, and my country will reach 75.4 billion yuan and 376.2 billion yuan respectively. .

Industry chain opportunities appear

Possible hardware solutions for humanoid robots include powertrain systems, intelligent sensing systems, structural parts, wiring harnesses and connectors, mask glass, and other discrete units. Among them, the reducer, servo system and control system to solve the "movement" problem of the robot are also the key links of technological breakthroughs. The intelligent sensing system includes various sensors such as millimeter-wave radar, image sensor, temperature sensor, as well as computing systems such as FSD chip and computing power chip, which act as the "eye" and "brain" of the robot.

Upstream components account for the highest proportion of the total cost and the highest profitability. According to the calculation of CITIC Construction Investment, the cost of the powertrain system accounts for 35% of the total cost of the humanoid robot, which is the most valuable part; followed by the intelligent sensing system, which accounts for 25% of the total cost of the humanoid robot.

Pan Yue, general manager of Beijing Lide Robotics Platform, said: "Because of certain technical reserves, the key core components of robots have a greater chance to enter the humanoid robot industry chain first." CITIC Construction Investment believes that motors, reducers, structural parts and other hardware Links have industrial chain opportunities. At present, the chips are mainly overseas, and the software algorithm is the core technology of the robot. Most companies choose to develop independently.

There are already listed companies eager to try. After Xiaomi released the humanoid robot, on August 12, Hanwei Technology said in response to investors' questions: "Xiaomi Technology's first humanoid robot has not yet used the flexible sensor of Suzhou Nenstar, a subsidiary of the company. Suzhou Nenstar Flexible micro-nano sensors with R&D layout have a large number of products and application layouts in robotics. With the development of the robotics industry, flexible sensors may have more applications, and we will increase investment in the field of flexible sensors. Xiaomi Technology has an equity relationship, and currently there are products that have entered the Xiaomi supply chain."

High technical barriers

Humanoid robots and industrial robots are very different from the perspective of R&D and design, as well as from the perspective of mass production. It is difficult for ordinary robot manufacturers to achieve transformation in a short period of time.

"The humanoid robot industry is still in the early stage of development, and currently faces difficulties such as high cost, unclear application scenarios, and simple functions realized by technology." Pan Yue said.

"Humanoid robots will be preferentially applied in non-industrial fields in the future, and it will take a long time for market-oriented applications in industrial fields." An insider of a domestic industrial robot manufacturing company told reporters, "Industrial products are primarily safe and reliable, and practical and practical. There are many functions. The more functions, the more flexible it is, and the more difficult it is to be safe and reliable.”

Pan Yue said that industrial robots and humanoid robots are quite different in terms of structural design, control accuracy or component parameters. The precision parameters and dimension requirements of industrial robots are different from those of humanoid robots. If industrial robot industry chain manufacturers want to enter the field of humanoid robots, they need to design and develop parts and components that meet the application level of humanoid robots on the basis of a certain output.

Although the market potential of robots in the future is huge, not all robots will be humanoid robots. Depending on the application scenario, service robots and special robots may be more suitable for humanoids.

Whether the huge blue ocean market of humanoid robots can be realized depends on the mass production of products and cost control. Due to the complex structure and high control performance requirements, the cost of humanoid robots is very expensive. Under the premise of ensuring performance, and at the same time achieving mass production and reducing costs, it will become the key to opening the market.

Lei Jun said at the Xiaomi new product launch conference that in the field of intelligent robots, humanoid bionic robots have the highest degree of technical integration and the most difficulty. Xiaomi is still in the first stage of its infancy, and CyberOne is learning new skills every day. into people's lives.