【www.zgswcn.com 】Hefei has formed ties with robot competition once again, and the robots “made in Hefei with wisdom” get ahead

The reporter notices from Hefei Municipal People’s Government on April 27 that 2016 RoboCup (China) opened in Hefei on April 26 is in full swing. Hefei has formed ties with RoboCup for the fourth time. So Hefei has received much concern in terms of robot competition and development trend of related research field.

RoboCup is the highest-ranked, largest and most famous robot competition in the world. Since 1999, RoboCup (China) has been held for 17 consecutive years.

It is reported that 2016 RoboCup is hosted by the Chinese Association of Automation (CAA) and Hefei Municipal People’s Government, jointly sponsored by RoboCup China Committee, Administration Committee of Hefei High-tech Industrial Development Zone, Hefei Bureau of Science and Technology, Hefei Association for Science and Technology, Robot Competition Working Committee of CAA, Robot Competition and Training Department of CAA as well as Anhui Jianzhu University. There are 16 events in 2016 RoboCup, more than 300 teams and nearly 2000 people from all over China including Hong Kong and Macao. Zheng Nanning, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and Chairman of CAA, and Wu Hongxin, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and researcher of China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), were invited to attend the opening ceremony of the competition.

Why does the RoboCup Organizing Committee select Hefei as the host for the fourth time?

In 2013, General Office of National Development and Reform Commission and General Office of Ministry of Finance officially approved the pilot implementation programs for strategic regional concentrated development of emerging industries in Anhui Province. Among them, the concentrated development of robot industry has become a national pilot program, which means the robot industry in Hefei has been selected in the “National Team” and entered the “Golden Phase” of its development.

The development of robot industry is listed in one of key tasks in the Made in China 2025, explicitly indicating that we shall actively develop new products, promote the development of robot standardization and modularization, and expand market application according to the demands for application of industrial robots of automobile, machinery, electronics, etc., and special robots, as well as service robots in terms medical care, home services, education and entertainment.

 “The robot industry has integrated language technology, intelligent manufacturing, integrated circuits and other industries. At present, several scientific research teams are engaging in robot research and development in Hefei, and Hefei gets ahead in the industry.” Wu Cunrong, member of the Standing Committee of CPC Anhui Provincial Committee and Hefei Municipal Party Secretary, put forward his expectation.

Hefei, with a long history and brilliant culture, superior regional traffic, rich educational resources and solid industrial base, is a dual-node city where China implements the strategy of “One Belt, One Road” and promotes the construction of the Yangtze River Economic Zone, a sub-center to accelerate the construction of “Famous City beside Chaohu Lake, Innovative Highland” and world-class urban agglomeration in the Yangtze River Delta.

In recent years, Hefei is unswervingly adhering to innovation, transformation and upgrading, developmental orientation. Its main economic indicators grow at “double-digit” rate. Heifei ranks “Top 10 GDP” among provincial capitals of China, and has become one of Top 20 the fastest growing cities in the world and one of provincial capitals of China.  

According to information, in Hefei, Hefei High-tech Industrial Development Zone becomes the center of robot industry. According to Administration Committee of Hefei High-tech Industrial Development Zone, the output value of robot industry reached RMB 2.6 billion yuan in 2015. There are about 30 enterprises and more than 8, 000 employees in the Zone, namely, a number of companies engaging in robot R&D, design, manufacturing and integration, including Goocoo Robot, CSG, iFly TEK, Sanlian Robot, TanAo Automation, F&R, etc. 

The enterprises focus on industrial robots, service robots and special industrial robots, make a technological breakthrough in robot body, controller, sensors and actuators and other key components, as well as system integrated design and manufacturing, form the robot technical innovation system, and promote robot application and industrialization.

With the progress of human civilization, robots have been applied more and more widely. The intelligent service robot “Kejia” developed by USTC is a master of household service, with core technology and intelligent degree leading in the world. “Orbitwheel” robots independently developed by Goocoo Robot, a new generation of robot for meal delivery, have been officially put into service in the robot restaurant. In addition, robots for coffee delivery, robots serving as receptionists and soft-bodied robots are also developed. Goocoo Robot merged the famous robot company Tongling Trinity Technology, CSG purchased New-Tronics, and they get ahead in the robot industrial market by means of overtaking on the curves. Handling and palletizing robots developed by Xiongying Automation Engineering Company have been fully put on market, and its market sales continuously rise. Sanlian introduced the famous robot expert team of Osaka University and their scientific and technological achievements to develop, produce and sell robotic nursing beds, exoskeleton robots and high-simulation robots.

On January 26, 2016, Hefei Strategic Alliance of Service Robot Industrial Innovation was established. The Alliance was launched by 16 organizations such as Institute of Advanced Technology, USTC, Hefei Institute of Physical Science, CAS, School of Engineering Science, USTC, iFLY TEK and Goocoo Robot. In addition, the Alliance invited more than 20 experts from Nanyang Technological University, University of Wollongong, City University of Hong Kong and other scientific research institutions as members of its Expert Advisory Committee to promote continuous optimization of service robots and speed up robot marketization.

In the aspect of policy support, the Hefei Robot Industrial Development Fund was established. The Fund was launched by Goocoo Group and Hefei Gaoxin Development & Investment Group Company, with the total fund of RMB 1 billion yuan, based on investment in the industries such as R&D, design consultation, core equipment manufacturing, system integration of intelligent robots, focusing on industrial guidance and enterprise cultivation, in order to build the robot industrial cluster in Hefei and create the innovative and manufacturing highland for intelligent equipment. The “2+2” industrial development policy issued by Hefei High-tech Industrial Development Zone has indicated the corresponding supportive policy for the robot industry.

Nowadays, in the field of robot research and development, there are more than 60 colleges and universities, such as USTC, 959 research institutions, such as Hefei Institute of Physical Science, CAS, and more than 600,000 technical personnel in Hefei. Due to abundant educational resources, Heifei has a brilliant future in developing the intelligent robot industry. In October 2013, National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Finance officially approved the pilot implementation programs for strategic regional concentrated development of emerging industries in Anhui Province, and the intelligent robot industry in Hefei was listed in national pilot programs. The intelligent robot industry develops and prospers in Hefei, and a large number of robots are “made in Hefei”.

On April 12^th, Tongling Trinity Technology published the scheme for private placement to raise fund of RMB 770 million yuan at the price of RMB 18.19 yuan/share or more from Goocoo Group owned by Yuan Qihong, the actual controller, of which RMB 250 million yuan will be invested in R&D of intelligent robot and its industrialization projects, as well as the projects of Goocoo Intelligent Robotics Research Center.

According to the plan of Tongling Trinity Technology and Shanghai Stock Exchange’s reply to the inquiry, the key technology of existing robots has been developed and completed by the R&D team of Goocoo Robot, and Goocoo Robot has committed to donate R&D team, technological achievements and relevant patents to the listed company. The Robotics Research Center of USTC- Goocoo will provide cutting-edge robot research technical support for the project.