Recently, iRobot hasChinaMarket launch of Braava jet water spray robot.
This water-jet mopping robot has a compact design and is composed of a vibrating cleaning body, precision jet technology and Braava jet cleaning pads, which can clean the dead corners of cabinets and the bottom of furniture.
The seemingly mysterious robot is entering the homes of ordinary people step by step. These personified AIs and robots will become indispensable new family members for thousands of households.
Robot knocks on door “hurriedly”
Wang Shuying lives in Chongqing. On the windows of her house, a robot is often seen crawling on it, constantly simulating the actions of manual window cleaning, and can automatically detect the window frame.
“In the past, when cleaning windows, ordinary tools were ineffective, tiring and unsafe. The glass wiped by the window-cleaning robot has no scratches and is clean.” Wang Shuying is very satisfied with her new family member.
andindustryCompared with robots, domestic robots that began in the 1990s are an emerging market.
According to the statistics of the International Federation of Robotics IFR, by 2017, the global service robot market capacity will be close to 50 billion yuan; by 2020, the global service robot market will reach 41.6 billion US dollars, equivalent to more than 200 billion yuan.
Facing this “blue ocean”, the world’s home appliance companies, especially Midea, Gree,HaierWaiting for Chinese manufacturers to show great enthusiasm.because they realize that whereverJapan,South Koreastill in Europe,U.S.Home robot technology is developing rapidly, everyone is on the same starting line, there is no absolute monopoly brand.
Gree has previously announced that it will enter the field of robots and independently develop and produce robots. It is reported that Midea Group has put into use more than 800 robots at present, and the number of robots invested in the later period will maintain an annual growth rate of about 30%.Recently, completed theGermanyThe acquisition of KUKA, a well-known industrial robot manufacturer, has greatly enhanced its competitiveness.
In the world market, the American iRobot, which is popular all over the world with a sweeping robot Ramba, is in a leading position. To date, nearly 15 million home robots have been sold in more than 60 markets around the world.
Constantly upgrade to satisfy lazy people
Movie”mechanicalIn Public Enemy, housekeeping robots cover almost everything from delivering couriers to housekeeping; Dabai in “Super Marines” is simply an intelligent and high-end version of today’s home robots; The robot housekeeper is stupid and strong. He usually pours tea, massages, and washes clothes meticulously. He can even rescue his owner when he is in danger.
It can be said that human beings create robots to better serve human beings and improve their own happiness. A truly autonomous and intelligent home robot can help humans do many things they don’t want to do, and bring lazy happiness.
For home robot manufacturers, this market will be broader than that of mobile phones. However, there are still a few robots that can truly act autonomously. Domestic robot manufacturers are mainly concentrated in sweeping robots, food delivery robots and robots for the elderly and children, and the homogeneity is serious.
How should home robots develop correctly in the future? American product innovation may be able to bring some inspiration.
After entering the Chinese market, iRobot develops and designs products according to the habits of Chinese users. For example, adding a smart APP for Chinese users whose mobile phones do not leave their bodies; launching washable and reusable rags (foreign mops are disposable), etc. The latest launch of a robot called Braava jet is also aimed at Chinese people. home reality.
“Chinese consumers need to clean hard floors in their homes frequently, and they not only want to vacuum, but also want to be able to wet wipe. We have developed a water-jet mopping robot that is ideal for cleaning small spaces.” iRobot COOChrisTian Cerda told a reporter from Science and Technology Daily.
If you want to be more empathetic, you still rely on research and development
In science fiction movies, intelligent robots are always omnipotent. They can walk, drive, fight, act as personal assistants, and even learn by themselves and communicate with humans emotionally.
However, in reality, Robotics is mainly used in the manufacturing and industrial fields. Because home service robots still face high technical barriers to effectively interact with humans. As far as the domestic robot industry is concerned, the key technologies and core components of robots have not yet broken through, there is a shortage of R&D personnel, the production capacity of low-end robots is repeatedly built, and there is still excess production capacity.
Therefore, in the face of international giants like iRobot, the competition in China’s home robot market is largely a competition in research and development.
“iRobot’s R&D strength is very strong, and a large part of the team are engineers. They have done research on Chinese consumers for a long time, and after long-term research and development and improvement, they can introduce products that meet the needs of consumers to the Chinese market. ” said Kelly Zhang, iRobot’s vice president of sales and marketing and general manager of China.
However, the domestic robot industry has also made great progress in the field of technology research and development in recent years.National 863 Program Intelligent Robot Subject Expert, Chinese Academy of Sciences ShenyangautomationHan Jianda, assistant to the director of the institute, said that after nearly 30 years of development, my country’s robots have initially established a research and development system ranging from basic research on robot applications to industrialization. The industrial robot and service robot industries have begun to take shape, and service robots in special environments have been practically applied.
In the future, it will be a family standard
Robot is an integrated body of various high-tech. Among them, artificial intelligence is at the top of robot research and development, and the commanding height of intelligence is human-like brain intelligence.
In March of this year, Google Go artificial intelligence AlphaGo and South Korean chess player Lee Sedol had a “contest of the century”, and AlphaGo won in the end.
“In the future, every family will have a robot that has a brain and can think.” said Zeng Yi, an associate researcher at the General Department of Human Brain Engineering at the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Zeng Yi described such a roadmap: first conduct research on the human brain to understand the cognitive mechanism of the human brain, and then develop a brain simulator, thereby inspiring the development of artificial intelligence robots in the future. At present, Chinese scientists are working hard for this – the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has established a computer model of cat visual neurons for the first time, modeling different neurons in humans, including animals, by recognizing the human brain. Start with the simulation of cognitive functions, and build a machine brain that is similar to the human brain bit by bit.
“If we want to lead the development of artificial intelligence and occupy the commanding heights of academia and industry in the world, then we should develop human-like intelligence technology to lay a solid foundation for responding to the robot revolution.” Zeng Yi said.
■Extended reading
iRobot, the world’s robot king
The reason why iRobot is a top Robotics company is that it has a top team behind it.
iRobot was born out of MIT, one of the world’s top universities. At that time, MIT professor Rodney Brooks presided over the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), with his favorite students Colin Angel and HelenGrayNa, based on the venture capital provided by CSAIL, founded the robot company iRobot.
Professor Rodney Brooks specializes in Robotics, computer imaging, AI and other fields. The CSAIL he presides is the largest university laboratory in the world. At the same time, he is also one of the academicians of the National Academy of Engineering.
Colin Angle and his team designed behaviorally controllable “rover” robots for NASA, laying the groundwork for the 1997 Mars exploration sojourner robot. Angle and his team also won the Team Achievement Award from NASA, and Angle’s name was engraved on the “Spirit” Mars rover and exhibited at NASA.
Helen GrayReinaShe is an outstanding leader. She has been nominated as one of the best leaders in the United States by Harvard Kennedy School, U.S. News, and World Report. Pioneer Award. Under her leadership, iRobot successfully launched robotics products into the military and mass consumer markets.
To date, more than 15 million iRobot household robots have been sold in 65 countries around the world, efficiently performing cleaning tasks in various areas of each home.
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