Chinese EV maker NIO is piloting humanoid robots on its electric vehicle (EV) assembly line at one of its factories.
The robot, built by Shenzhen-based UBTECH Robotics, listed on Hong Kong’s stock exchange, built the Walker S robot working on NIO’s assembly line. The company says it’s the first time the Walker S has been used on an EV assembly line.
The Walker S humanoid robot is 57-inches (145cm) tall and weighs 170 pounds (77kg). Walker uses lithium iron phosphate batteries that take two hours to charge and it has a battery life of two hours.
With 36 high-performance servo joints and a full range of sensory systems including force, vision, hearing and spatial awareness, the Walker S is learning to assist humans by undertaking repetitive, tedious and potentially dangerous tasks for them.
Eventually, the Walker S is expected to completely take over these tasks.
NIO hasn’t spoken publicly about its humanoid robot pilot, but Ubtech has confirmed it is willing to deploy robots on EV assembly lines to boost productivity.
