Text丨Congerry
Are you here, smoking a robot?
On August 14, former "Huawei Genius Boy" Zhihui Jun announced the Zhiyuan humanoid robot on social media.
Today, it’s here. Zhihuijun officially released the Zhiyuan embodied intelligent robot Expedition A1.
The height is 175cm, the weight is 53kg, the maximum walking speed is 7km/h, the whole body has 49 degrees of freedom, the whole machine can bear 80kg, and the maximum load on one arm is 5kg.
Not only that, the Expedition A1 also integrates large models with intelligent interaction, decision-making and other capabilities.
Integrated large model, priced at 200,000, making implementation possible
Expedition A1 took the stage for the first time. (It always looks weird...)
It can be found that the Yuanzheng A1 humanoid robot does not adopt the traditional forward knee bending, but chooses reverse knee bending.
Zhihui Jun explained that due to technology and cost constraints, robot joints are not as flexible as human joints. In order to adapt to various real application scenarios, the anti-joint design allows the robot to have a larger operating space.
Moreover, the lower body of the Expedition A1 can also be changed to a caster.
In addition to its legs, the Expedition A1’s “dexterous hands” are also very special.
In order to meet the needs of precision manufacturing, researchers have installed visual sensors on the tips of dexterous fingers, which can identify the color, shape and material of objects, and can even simulate the function of pressure sensors through algorithms.
Not only that, the Yuanzheng A1 can also replace its dexterous hands independently.
Zhihui Jun believes that the hardware itself is a prerequisite, and more importantly, the robot’s AI brain.
" Robots not only need ChatGPT, but also need a WorkGPT ."
The Zhiyuan team optimized the open source tens of billions of large models and developed WorkGPT, which is a powerful model with prior knowledge and thinking chain.
Moreover, the capabilities of WorkGPT have been integrated into the Expedition A1, allowing it to understand human instructions and complete task orchestration and execution.
So what exactly can the Expedition A1 do? According to the on-site video, the Yuanzheng A1 can be used in chassis assembly and appearance inspection in the automobile production line;
Carry out assembly and material handling of 3C products in the factory;
Assist researchers in the biochemistry laboratory with sample preparation;
You can even act as a butler.
In terms of selling price, Zhihui Jun said that the long-term goal of controlling the hardware cost of the Yuanzheng A1 is within 200,000 yuan. Moreover, Yuanzheng A1 will first be used in new energy manufacturing and 3C manufacturing, and Zhiyuan has already connected with leading companies.
Humanoid robots, the predecessors of the Expedition A1
As the predecessor of the Expedition A1, the humanoid robot CyberOne released by Xiaomi last year can perceive 45 kinds of human semantic emotions and distinguish 85 kinds of environmental semantics.
Combined with AI interaction algorithms, it can also realize character identity recognition, gesture recognition, and expression recognition, but the cost is as high as 740,000 yuan.
Moreover, the applicable scenarios of the two are different.
At Tesla’s second quarter performance briefing this year, Musk announced the latest progress of another predecessor of the Expedition A1, Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus.
Musk said Tesla has produced 10 humanoid robots. Walking tests are expected to be carried out in November this year, and practical tests are planned to be carried out at the Tesla factory next year.
According to previous information, the target price of Tesla’s humanoid robot is controlled at US $20,000 (approximately RMB 144,000).
Just two days before the release of the Expedition A1, Yushu Technology, another company known for developing quadruped robots, announced on social media that it was developing a humanoid robot H1.
Wang Xingxing, founder and CEO of Yushu Technology, said that the industrial trend has begun, and in the near future, humanoid robots will start a new round of industrial revolution.
After watching the press conference, some netizens said that the capabilities of expedition AI are still very rudimentary.
After leaving Juchang, Zhihui Jun handed in his answer sheet in half a year
It is worth noting that it only took Zhiyuan half a year to make the Expedition A1.
At the end of 2022, Zhihui Jun announced his resignation from Huawei and started his own business.
At that time, Zhihui Jun did not disclose the specific reasons for leaving Huawei or the next specific entrepreneurial plan. However, there are rumors that Zhihui Jun’s next step will be in the field of robotics.
There are even reports that after leaving his job, Zhihui Jun not only devoted himself to robot entrepreneurship, but also that the project has received angel round financing.
In February 2023, Zhihui Jun established Zhiyuan Robot, which mainly integrates AI and robots in depth to develop and produce a series of products such as general humanoid robots and embodied intelligence .
At that time, it received investment from Hillhouse Capital, Qiji Chuangtan, and Hillhouse Venture Capital.
At the end of May this year, Zhiyuan Robot, which was only three months old, raised funds again. New corporate shareholders include Baidu, Matrix Partners, CDH, Gaorong, etc.
Not only that, Zhiyuan Robot has also attracted local state-owned capital investments such as Shanghai Huanxin Phase I Private Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) and Shanghai Sinan Yuanke Private Equity Fund Management Co. , Ltd.
After this round of financing, it was reported that the market valuation of Zhiyuan Robot reached more than one billion US dollars .
Before the financing news broke, Zhihuijun uploaded a video of the newly designed wheel-footed robot-neZHa (Nezha) on Station B in April.
He also revealed that Nezha will appear as an easter egg in the press conference for a major event that Zhiyuan is currently preparing .
Looking back, "the press conference of a big event" should refer to today's press conference. However, Nezha did not arrive as expected.
In addition, the Expedition A1 is only the first step in the Expedition series. Zhihui Jun’s goal is that one day, intelligent robots like those in science fiction movies can truly be realized.