Latest technology wows attendees at key conference for businesses

By Yuan Shenggao | China Daily | Updated: 2018-10-18 07:49

A satellite photo caught visitors' eyes at the 2018 National Mass Innovation and Entrepreneurship Week expo held recently in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

The photo, displaying the main meeting place of the event, was shot by a micro artificial intelligence satellite launched recently by ADA-Space, a private firm in Chengdu specializing in satellite design and data services.

The company successfully launched two AI satellites named TFJR-1 and CDGX-1 on Sept 5, with the logos of "Shuangchuang".

Wang Long, vice-president of the company, said that compared with traditional remote sensing satellites, the AI satellite could deal with photos and data automatically and feature functions such as self-memory, self-recognition, self-processing and self-adaptation.

The core team of the company, which specializes in satellite photos and research and development of the overall design, consists of scientific and technical personnel from the research institutes of aerospace universities and teachers and students at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in Sichuan.

Wang said that the development of aeronautical and astronautical enterprises could not move further without the support from universities and research institutes.

"The efforts made by universities and research institutes on promoting new technologies and research are the main reasons for our success in such a short time.

"Chengdu is a center for innovation and entrepreneurship," Wang said, adding that the city provides startups with all-round support such as favorable policies and professionals.

"The entrepreneurial environment is vigorous and I am very confident about the commercial aerospace industry in Chengdu," he added.

An intelligent rehabilitation robot produced by The Buffalo Robot, the first supplier offering exoskeleton robots in China, was also highlighted during the event.

"The robot will help people conduct rehabilitation training such as walking," said Niu Houkun, sales manager of the marketing center at the company.

He said the robot could drive limb movement and help people with such activities as sitting down, standing up, walking and going upstairs and downstairs.

The Buffalo Robot is based on exoskeleton robotics, a high-end technology developed by the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.

Co-invested by the Shanghai Electric Group and the university, the company is the first of its kind in China.

"Thanks to the innovation and entrepreneurship policies by the university and local governments, the scientific results could accelerate to the market and realize industrialization," Niu said.

Over the years, Chengdu has promoted the integrated development of universities and enterprises and built an innovative system on the mixed ownership of scientific achievements, the first of its kind in China.

The city aims to establish a development community for both universities and enterprises based on its industrial parks.

Eye-catching items on display included new technologies and products for immunology and gene therapy from Sichuan University and products of The Buffalo Robot, whose core research team comes from the robotics research institute at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. The city's pilot system on the mixed ownership of scientific achievements has expanded to 20 universities in Sichuan with more than 400 technological achievements confirming its ownerships.