Compared with the industrial assembly line in Chaplin's "Modern Times", what stage of development have the robots reached today? What are the most anticipated robot forms and application fields in the future? In what aspects does China's robot industry need to make breakthroughs in its development?

During the 2019 World Robot Conference held in Beijing, Xi Ning, a world-renowned robotics expert and chair professor at the University of Hong Kong, accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from Science and Technology Daily and answered the above questions one by one.

Robot functions: from "replacing people" to "expanding people"

There are all kinds of robots, how to classify them?

Regarding the official report of the conference that divided robots into three categories: industrial robots, service robots and special robots, Xi Ning believes that this is a "classification method based on robot applications and functions, which is more scientific"; while classifying animal bionic robots, humanoid commercial robots and tool-type intelligent manufacturing robots "contributes to the education and popularization of robots, and is more image-like to the public."

Pulling back the "film" of the history of robots, what are the essential differences between today's robots and the second industrial revolution in Chaplin's "Modern Times"?

Xi Ning said: "When robots were first developed, we hoped that they could replace people and do tasks that people are unwilling to do or repeat. But after developing to a certain level, we found that robots can also do tasks that people cannot do. From the ability to replace people, to Expanding human capabilities is an essential difference. "

He predicted that on this basis, robots and humans will perform their own duties, join forces, work together, and integrate at multiple levels at the macro and micro scales, which will greatly expand the application scope of robots in the future.

Future robots: Breaking through intuition and working on a microscopic scale

Robots work on the same scale as humans in macroscopic processes such as automobile assembly, welding and spray painting. But with the development of nanotechnology and biomedicine, there is a need to use robots in microscopic environments invisible to the naked eye.

Xi Ning gave an example: "For example, when developing new drugs, in experiments to study proteins, molecules and cell scales, we cannot see or touch them, and it is difficult for humans to operate them. However, micro-nano robots can detect and work in extremely microscopic environments, which has expanded our vision." Eye function, the application of robots has also expanded from traditional fields to new fields. "To be used in the human body, do these robots need to use new materials?" Xi Ning responded to the reporter's question: "This is a good question! It is composed of electromechanical systems, including electronic components such as sensors. However, humans and animals are biological systems. In addition to some electromechanical components, there are also biological components. In the past, the cooperation between humans and robots was at the task level of completing one thing together. In the future, a new type of 'quasi-organisms' will be born. Robots’ combine biological sensing skills with micro-robots to enhance specific functions of the human body.” In addition to products that have been integrated at the organ level, such as pacemakers, life-like robots that are integrated at the molecular and cellular levels are also particularly worth looking forward to. Xi Ning is rationally optimistic about the prospects of life-like robots: "The research on life-like robots has just begun, and some results have been achieved so far. Of course, a lot of efforts are still needed before practical application."

Xi Ning believes that the progress of modern science and technology is the joint promotion and coordinated development of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinaryresult. "Robots not only involve drives and sensors, control and calculations, but are also related to materials and algorithms, so there is no need to distinguish the boundaries very clearly."

This is also true. Whether it is artificial intelligence or smart manufacturing, it is inseparable from robots directly carrying out work at the execution level. "In this sense, the development of artificial intelligence and intelligent manufacturing not only promotes the development of robots, but also contributes to the development of the robot industry."

So, on the road to vigorous development of robots in China, what are the difficulties that need to be overcome urgently?

Xi Ning analyzed: "Take industrial robots as an example. Most of China still uses imported products, which is a challenge for domestic robot companies. Currently, domestic robots are still limited to relatively low-end industries due to differences in performance, quantity, and quality. The key to the urgent breakthrough of domestic traditional robots has always been core components such as transmissions, controllers, and sensors."

At the same time, Xi Ning believes that there are three other new industry bottlenecks, and it is best to promote research and breakthroughs together -

"The first is robot programming. The current robot programming method hinders the promotion of robots.

"The second is the calibration method of the robot. Matching and coordinating the coordinates of the new robot with the existing factory is a very complicated process. It is urgent to master a fast and concise method independently, so that future robots can be put to work as soon as they are unpacked like a TV.

"The third is sensor combination. Traditional robots mostly use position sensors, and vision sensors will be added in the future, but the synergy effect is still very poor.

Foreign countries are also studying these three aspects, so China is on the same starting line with them. Therefore, when we break through the traditional "old three levels", we must break through the "new three levels" at the same time. In this way, China can be in the next era of widespread use of robots. Get in front of others. "

"You were the president of the IEEE Robotics Society, and now you have established a robotics research institute in Shenzhen. Have you conducted research and practice on these three issues? "

"We have indeed done some work." Xi Ning said, for example, some projects require a lot of high-pressure gas pipelines, and the interior of the interface needs to be polished, otherwise the backlog of solder will easily cause accidents in core components. "In the past, a French company could make this kind of polishing robot, but it would not sell it to China. The company had to pay expensive service fees before they could bring the robot to provide services. Now, the polishing robot we developed has solved this problem."

　(Science and Technology Daily, Beijing, August 22)