On September 30, 2022 (North American time), and October 1, 2022 (Beijing time), Tesla's 2022 AI Day event took place in Palo Alto, California. The humanoid robot "Optimus" (known in Chinese as "Qingtianzhu"), a personification of science fiction brought to life, made its debut, propelling technological advancement into the next era.
(One)Optimus Makes a Big Debut
In Musk's introduction, the Optimus prototype made a grand debut, turning, stopping, and waving with smooth movements. This was the first time Optimus walked autonomously without any human operation. Tesla did not install an outer shell for it but directly showcased its internal structure, with joints, bones, cables, and other equipment clearly visible, providing a直观 demonstration of each movement detail. The event also presented usage scenarios for Optimus: in an office, it skillfully lifted a kettle to water plants, carried materials with both hands to the target location, accurately positioned surrounding individuals, and actively avoided them. "Our production capacity can reach millions of units, and we expect the price to be significantly lower than cars, ultimately falling below $20,000."
"Tesla's robot is nearly the height and weight of an adult, capable of carrying or lifting heavy objects, and it can walk briskly with small steps. The screen on its face serves as an interactive interface for communication." Musk explained, "Human society is formed through the interaction of bipedal humanoids with two arms and ten fingers. Therefore, for a robot to adapt to the environment and perform tasks like humans, it must have roughly the same size, shape, and abilities."
Sensor technology poised to benefit
Recently, in an article published in the "China Internet Information" magazine, Musk pointed out, "Moving forward, with the expansion of production scale and the decrease in costs, the practicality of humanoid robots will increase year by year."
Guojin Securities believes that Tesla's robot will accelerate the commercialization process of the robotics industry. In the short term, it is recommended to focus on the incremental components of humanoid robots and opt for technical paths that benefit small-sized, lightweight, and cost-effective hardware companies. In the long term, there is ample room for expansion in the intelligence level of robots.
Humanoid robots are intelligent robots with body structures and movement patterns similar to humans, such as bipedal walking and hand coordination.
Humanoid robots share similar core components with existing machines, including drive devices (servo systems + reducers), control devices (controllers), and various sensors.
In the sensor segment, autonomous driving sensors related to external environment perception and navigation are expected to benefit.
Materials | Sources: Tesla, DS Power, HangHangCha
It is understood that humanoid bionic robots represent an advanced form of service robots, which can be widely applied in numerous scenarios of daily life and production. Humanoid robots are hailed as the ultimate form in the AI field, referring to robots designed and manufactured to mimic both the form and behavior of humans.
In the humanoid robot industry chain, upstream component suppliers involve pressure sensors.
The design and manufacturing aim to interact with manual tools and the environment, thereby assisting and even replacing human production and living. In terms of application scenarios, it is mainly divided into commercial and personal/household application scenarios, covering fields such as logistics, food delivery, cleaning, companionship, and entertainment.
Robots are hailed as the "jewel on the crown of manufacturing," and humanoid bionic robots are widely recognized as the ultimate goal in the robotics field. Compared to industrial robots that excel in mechanical capabilities, the technical challenge of humanoid bionic robots lies in their ability to simulate the human process of "perception-cognition-decision-execution" as closely as possible across various scenarios.
Humanoid robots will also extensively utilize flexible electronics technology, such as flexible electronic skin, flexible tactile sensors, and flexible bending, all of which are technologies and real-world applications that Suzhou Nansda has already established.
(3) Domestic Humanoid Robots
In recent years, domestic humanoid robot production has been on the rise.
Xiaomi's "Iron Man"
Wuxi Nansda joined Xiaomi's supply chain system in 2019 and is now a equity-participating ecological enterprise of Xiaomi Technology. Nansda has developed and laid out flexible micro-nano sensors, which have already been extensively applied in the robotics sector. With the growth of the robotics industry, flexible sensors may find even more applications.
(IV)Unistar-related products
Gloved Flexible Film Pressure Sensor ZNS-01
ZNX-01 Flexible Pressure Sensor for Insoles
