Huawei’s humanoid robot surprises

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Nio started testing humanoid robots on its production lines. According to news reported by China Star Market, Nio is testing the Kuavo robot developed by Leju Robotics in its factories. Kuavo stands out as the first HarmonyOS-based robot that Huawei introduced at the HDC 2024 developer conference.

Nio is taking a pioneering role in incorporating humanoid robots into production processes. In February 2024, UBTech Robotics’ Walker S robot was also tested at Nio’s factory. Walker S became the first humanoid robot to be trained in a real-world environment at a new energy vehicles factory. During training, Walker S used its image capture and transmission capabilities on quality inspection tasks such as door locks, seat belts, and headlight covers. Additionally, the robot successfully completed the task of attaching vehicle logos.

Nio’s interest in humanoid robots is not limited to individual robots. Nio established a special team of humanoid robots in 2023. This team focuses on using humanoid robot arms in tight spaces and multitasking with 5G and vision algorithms. They also aim to use humanoid robots in some quality control processes. In April 2024, Nio’s head of intelligence engineering, Yi Peng, announced the formation and focus of this team at the China Humanoid Robot Ecology Conference.

Although the details of Nio’s collaboration with Huawei and Leju Robotics are not yet clear, testing the HarmonyOS-based Kuavo robot is seen as an important step in the company’s efforts to integrate humanoid robots into production processes. These developments show that Nio is in a leading position in the use of humanoid robots in the production line and plans to innovate further in this field in the future.