(Original title: Service Robot "Customized in Shenzhen") Wang Yufeng Tong Haidan Although the market for service robots is still a long way from the explosion, a large number of companies are eager to try. Zhu Fugang, a business owner in Shenzhen, likes to leave his central position on a full-fledged desk with Koobo, a humanoid robot newly developed by his company. "Cool treasure" has a round head and big eyes, sprouting, and small figure. When describing a friend as having a lot of minis, Zhu Fugang likes to compare the robot with his iPhone 6 and proudly says, "Oh, it's a little bit bigger than a cell phone." "Cool Po" is currently mainly used for accompany and education, mainly for students aged 6-18. In 2016, the number of service robot companies in Shenzhen surged. Many business owners like Zhu Fugang who originally made mobile phones began to transform and develop service robots with similar technologies. Because they are optimistic about this huge market space and vigorous support policies, many companies in other industries are involved. The annual output value of service robots has increased by more than 1 times Robots can be divided into service robots and industrial robots. Among them, the service robot refers to a robot that provides humans with various intelligent services in a home or business place. At present, domestic service robot applications mainly focus on the fields of cleaning, education, entertainment, medical care, and security. The market demand for service robots continues to grow strongly. A few days ago, an industry research organization Analysys International released a report showing that in 2016 China's service robot market reached 7.29 billion yuan, an increase of 44.6% over 2015, and the scale is expected to reach 15.2 billion yuan in 2019. At the same time, more capital is aimed at this market. According to the 2016 Shenzhen White Paper Robotics Industry Development White Paper (Draft for Soliciting Opinions) issued by the Robotics Association of Shenzhen, 2016, the number of service robot subdivisions has risen, and the number of companies has soared. Over 139 service robot companies, accounting for 29.6% of robotics companies; industrial output value of 22.3 billion yuan, accounting for 28.31% of the output value of the robot industry; industrial added value of 8.2 billion yuan. The First Financial reporter reviewed the industrial development white paper released by the Robotics Association of Shenzhen last year and found that the industry scale of Shenzhen's service robotics company in 2015 was estimated to be about RMB 9 billion, accounting for about 14% of the total robot production value. This means that in just one year, the annual output value of local service robots and the proportion in the total value of the robotics industry have both increased by more than double. In addition, according to the white paper last year, there were 138 service robot companies in Shenzhen in 2015. Compared with 2015, the number of service robot companies grew at a slower pace in 2016. However, the First Financial reporter learned from the Shenzhen Robotics Association that this is mainly due to the tighter data caliber in 2016. Bi Yalei, Secretary-General of the Shenzhen Robotics Association, told CBN reporter: “Last year, the number of robot companies that service robots surged was an indisputable fact. In fact, the number of companies is far more than these, but most of them have not formed a scale, so we did not take credit for the investigation.†Mobile phone company transformation Biaret said: “The number of service robot companies has increased dramatically, and there are many factors. In addition to the dual drive and the ability of a large number of enterprises in Shenzhen to integrate electronic products and smart technologies, many companies that design mobile phones have also transformed themselves into robot designs. ." Zhu Fugang mentioned at the beginning of the article is the person in charge of Shenzhen Taida Technology Co., Ltd. He is also one of the participants who joined the boom of service robots last year. The robot has been in R&D for more than a year now and the product is already in mass production. This speed is unpleasant. The technical connectivity of mobile phones and service robots provides them with fast access. Zhu Fugang told the reporter of the First Financial Affairs Bureau: “There are some employees in the technical team that are original because the hardware of the two is similar, for example, mobile phone motherboards. In terms of software, we cooperate with Singapore.†The First Financial reporter learned from a number of industry sources that the technology used to develop mobile phones is not the same as that of industrial robots. However, there are many similarities with service robots, and many places can learn from them. Therefore, if a mobile phone company is transformed into a service robot, it is like standing. On a convenient cornerstone. Of course, if you want to do well, it is not so easy. This requires a perfect combination of software and hardware. However, Zhu Fugang is optimistic about the future market. He recalled a detail to reporters: When they attended an exhibition in Hangzhou last year, a young father saw their advertisements in local media and drove more than 100 kilometers to the exhibition site. A family of three spent 150 yuan to buy 3 tickets, went straight to their booth to visit the robot. "They wanted to buy it. But at that time our robots had not been mass-produced and couldn't be sold." Zhu Fugang both regrets and rejoices: They have found the space in the market. In fact, as early as 2012, their company has already begun to explore the transformation path. Nowadays, Zhu Fugang is playing in the gap between work and sometimes playing with “cool treasureâ€, seeing this “little guy†doing push-ups, or “golden chicken independenceâ€, or performing “a word horse,†making him laugh. laugh. This is their first generation of robots. Next they plan to launch a smaller robot that can be placed in a pocket and used in business. Other industry companies have also poured in When Zhu Fugang chatted with his friends, he discovered that many companies that used to be mobile phones were now transitioning to service robots. "Very much. Actually, it is not just a mobile phone company. Enterprises with similar technology have transformed to serve as service robots." Zhang Zhongyue, general manager of another company in Shenzhen, also noticed. He told CBN reporter: “Some companies around us used to do tablet computers, and now they have also changed to service robots because they have many technical similarities.†Companies in other industries have also been transferred. Take Zhang Zhongyue for example, his company was originally a company manufacturing precision molds. In 2015, the company established a wholly-owned subsidiary Shenzhen Qianhai Yongda Robot Co., Ltd. The service robots developed were mainly used for commercial services, such as the welcome and business handling of banks and mobile business offices, and for foreign countries. Large companies customize home robots for security monitoring. Zhang Zhongyue said: "The precision mold technology and service robot technology have few similarities, so we are almost starting from scratch. Most R & D personnel are not from the original technical team, but from the leading companies to introduce a large amount of investment At present, the total investment is already 100 million." Behind the influx of companies into the service robotics industry is a wave of “policeâ€. At the national level, according to the action plan of the heavyweight strategy “Made in China 2025,†China must vigorously promote the rapid development of robots in its advantageous and strategic industries, including service and robot application needs such as health care, family services, education and entertainment. In the first half of 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the "Robotic Industry Development Plan (2016-2020)" and proposed that by 2020, the annual sales revenue of service robots in China will exceed 30 billion yuan. Yuan and other goals. At the local level, the relevant person in charge of the Shenzhen Economic, Trade and Information Committee stated that as early as 2014, from the year 2014 to 2020, for seven consecutive years, Shenzhen Finance will arrange 500 million yuan each year to set up city robots. Wearable equipment and smart equipment industry development special funds. However, in the eyes of many people in the industry, the difficulty in further expanding the scale of the service robot industry still lies in the development of big data and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence technology. Wu Zhipin is the general manager of Qianhai Business Department of Shenzhen Hi-tech Investment & Financing Guarantee Co., Ltd. and has long paid attention to the investment in the robot industry. He told CBN reporter: "It is undeniable that there are a large number of companies in the service robot industry that are influx because the service robot technology threshold in many application areas is not high. In addition, from the perspective of market applications, many products They are not mature and are not sufficiently close to the end consumers. They need to improve their competitiveness." Of course, higher-end service robots are not just “looking like peopleâ€, but companies need to polish on scenarios and sensory identification technologies. Wu Zhipin added: "If the industry wants to further expand its scale, it will be inevitable that the threshold will increase. However, once the company enters the field of robotics with a high threshold, the development space will be astonishing." However, Zhu Fugang was very happy that his company “stepped onâ€. Based on current orders and development momentum, he expects that this year's sales volume will reach 20,000 units, and sales will be estimated at 100 million yuan.