Innovation helps robotics to catch up

BEIJING - Softly whirring robotic arms five meters tall lift up a car weighing nearly two metric tons and move it around in the air, as a crowd of visitors below hold up their phones to record and take pictures.

That memory will likely remain fresh for a while in the minds of visitors in the 2018 World Robot Conference held in Beijing in August - such was the power of robots on display. Some 160 robot makers from China and abroad showcased their products at the event.

Robotic arms in various sizes pick up things as large as cars and as small as pills, hold pens to draw or write, perform surgeries, and even make and serve cocktails.