HANGZHOU, China, April 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — On March 28th, George Cui Shan, Chairman & CEO of SUPCON, (688777.SH, SUPCON.SW) sat down for an interview to talk about the recent establishment of the Zhejiang Humanoid Robot Innovation Center (hereinafter referred to as “Innovation Center”) and the debut of its first self-developed humanoid robot, Navigator α. As the primary shareholder of the Innovation Center, SUPCON is excited by the prospect of potential collaborations between academia and industry in the field of humanoid robotics, along with the future application of these robots in diverse industrial scenarios.
The Zhejiang Humanoid Robot Innovation Center is dedicated to researching intelligent sensing and control technology, as well as developing fully functional robots. It will serve as a comprehensive hub for technological research, product development, talent incubation, and industrial growth. With its substantial support for the center, SUPCON enhances its strategic vision of integrating AI with robotics, actively driving the intelligent transformation of the humanoid robot industry.
The newly launched humanoid robot, Navigator α, stands at a height of 1.5 meters and weighs 50 kilograms, boasting advanced hardware components including a cutting-edge planetary reducer, lightweight humanoid mechanical arms, and a dexterous hand with multiple degrees of freedom. This remarkable hand features 15 finger joints, six active degrees of freedom, a fingertip force of 10N, a lightweight design of 600g, and an impressive joint speed of 150 degrees per second. Moreover, Navigator α revolutionizes the integration of mechanism control, imitation learning, and reinforcement learning, leveraging innovative technologies like large-scale AI models to achieve groundbreaking advancements in both hardware and algorithms. It has been deployed and highly recognized in several field-proven projects.
George underscored that, unlike traditional humanoid robots that focus primarily on the connection of parts and the overall system, the collaboration between SUPCON and the Innovation Center aims to achieve breakthroughs in AI technology and its industrial application. In the era of industrial AI, robotics innovation must expand beyond mere operational capabilities to encompass planning, harnessing AI as the industrial “brain”. Furthermore, George asserted that the future of humanoid robots hinges on their utilization in specific scenarios and industries. It is crucial to bridge the gap between technological research and industrial demand, thereby empowering the industry’s continued progress.