Automated future is at your service

"Your Royal Highness, my name is Run. I have a gift for you. Please push the 'open' button to receive your present." That was the human-like voice of a robot - waist-high, cylindrical, mobile, wearing a bow tie and behaving gentlemanly - speaking to Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, on his recent visit to China.

The robot gave the prince a notebook with an embroidered cover and the royal visitor appeared pleased with both the gift and his new Chinese friend who, avoiding the crowds and obstacles, guided him through the hall to the exhibition stand.

Designed by Yunji Technology, a Chinese startup, Run is the latest in a series of robots that have been impressing VIPs. Pitt, Run's predecessor, had interacted with Premier Li Keqiang and then became an online celebrity.

Yunji has multiple patents for artificial intelligence in China. The company focuses on the development and commercialization of autonomous robots, especially for delivering goods.

Zhi Tao, co-founder and CEO of Yunji, says he believes the key is to make every robot move freely.

"In order to bring robots to the masses, it is important to make them move easily. Once a robot is not fixed to one physical location, just like a human, its ability will be enhanced and then it can serve us better," Zhi says.

"We are committed to making the robots move easily within 1 kilometer for use in both indoor and outdoor scenarios, including hotels, office buildings, shopping malls, hospitals, communities and so forth."

Founded in 2014, the company currently has nearly 40 service robots operating in hotels, offices and office buildings. They work at almost 30 high-end hotels.

Equipped with advanced positioning systems, bellhop can automatically identify and avoid obstacles and people. Once a robot becomes part of the Internet of Things, it can communicate with elevators, move between hotel floors, arrive at the door, notify guests of telephone calls, deliver items they need, such as food, water and towels.

In July, Yunji signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Changcheng Property Group, a leading Chinese property enterprise. The two companies will conduct research on possible applications of service robots in communities.

It is expected such robots will materialize by the end of this year or at the beginning of next year, and become operational in the middle of 2017.

"It is a huge industry," Zhi says. "The Chinese commercial-use robotics market will reach tens of billions of yuan by 2018."

Wang Tianran, an academician at the China Academy of Engineering, told Xinhua News Agency earlier that China's demand for service robots had grown rapidly.

He said that, thanks to strong policy support, there will be more new robots to meet people's daily needs.

In the past, Yunji received funding from iFlytek Co, a Chinese company dedicated to intelligent speech and language technologies.

ouyangshijia@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 12/02/2016 page28)