17日的民营经济座谈会上,一位90后民营企业家引起许多网友的关注。
他就是杭州宇树科技有限公司创始人王兴兴,总台蛇年春晚火爆“出圈”的转手绢机器人就来自王兴兴的团队。
At a symposium on private enterprises on Monday, a young entrepreneur born in the 1990s caught the attention of many netizens. He is Wang Xingxing, CEO and founder of Unitree Robotics.
Wang’s team developed the handkerchief-spinning robot that gained widespread popularity during this year's Spring Festival Gala.
当天座谈会结束后,王兴兴接受记者采访时表示,“AI驱动机器人进化速度非常快,超出预期。”他认为,今年年底前,人形机器人将达到“新量级”,明年或后年,服务业和工业基本可以推广应用。
After the symposium, Wang told reporters in an interview that "AI-driven robot evolution is advancing at an unprecedented pace, exceeding expectations."
He believes that by the end of this year, humanoid robots will reach a new level, and by next year or the year after, they will be widely adopted in both the service and industrial sectors.
不是第一次上春晚
穿着小花袄、挥着红手绢、扭着大秧歌,总台蛇年春晚舞台上,活泼又喜感的人形机器人吸引了无数观众的目光。
对于机器人由人辅助下场的设计,王兴兴解释,“增加机器人和人的互动性其实是为了好玩,最近我们对人形机器人做了软件算法的升级,让它的动作更加柔顺,比绝大部分人都跳得好。”
Regarding the design of robots assisted by humans, Wang explained, "Enhancing human-robot interaction is mainly for fun. Recently, we upgraded the software algorithms for humanoid robots, making their movements smoother—they can now dance better than most people."
这已经不是宇树科技的产品第一次登上春晚了,早在2021年牛年春晚,机器牛“犇犇”就已登台,和刘德华隔空互动表演。
宇树科技的四只机器狗也曾在电视台亮相,其中宠物机器狗“糯米”能够在家里陪伴老人、小孩,能负重100多公斤的机器狗“大白”,现场将主持人尼格买提高高驮起。
2023年杭州亚运会田径铁饼赛场上,宇树科技研发的电子机器狗化身“搬运工”,在赛场来来回回运送铁饼,极大节省了工作人员的体力。
王兴兴介绍,这类机器人未来有望在电网巡检、工艺巡检、消防救援等工业生产和特种环境中得到更广泛的落地应用。
Wang Xingxing explained that in the future, such robots are expected to see wider applications in industrial production and specialized environments, including power grid inspection, process inspection, and firefighting and rescue operations.
青年创业
2013年,还在读本科的王兴兴动手制作了第一款四足机器人XDog,两年后,他带着XDog参加创业大赛,拿下二等奖,赚了8万元奖金。从想出XDog方案开始,王兴兴的创业想法便悄悄萌芽,为此甚至想过放弃学业。
In 2013, while still an undergraduate, Wang Xingxing built his first quadruped robot, XDog. Two years later, he won second prize and an 80,000-yuan award in a startup competition. This marked the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey.
然而,当他将测试视频上传到网络上试图分享自己的创业成果时,现实却大不如预期。王兴兴评价当时的自己说:“我的思考其实还有很多地方要提升,第一至少技术水平要达到全球领先水平,这样才能拿出来创业,不然别人比你做得好,你根本也没办法创业。”
事情的转机出现在2016年,王兴兴因为XDog测试视频的“出圈”而获得融资,成立了属于自己的公司,全新独立研发了所有系统,在第二年正式对外发布了首款四足机器人。
The turning point came in 2016 when Wang Xingxing’s XDog test video went viral, securing him funding to start his own company. He independently developed all systems and launched his first quadruped robot the following year.
此后,王兴兴的四足机器狗产品不断迭代,逐渐“出圈”。继总台蛇年春晚的转手绢机器人惊艳亮相后,2月14日,宇树科技发布了G1机器人跳舞视频,动作衔接更加流畅自然,让部分网友质疑是AI视频。对此,宇树科技最新发布了一条机器人跳舞视频,在机器人身后放置了一面镜子,并制造人为干扰来澄清。
对于机器人的未来发展,王兴兴有很多畅想,他提出跨尺度智能的概念,希望能把机器人应用在生物医疗技术中。“可以让人形机器人不断生产出小机器人,直到生产出细胞大小的机器人。”
Wang Xingxing envisions a bold future for robotics, introducing the concept of cross-scale intelligence. He hopes to integrate robots into biomedical technology, imagining a world where humanoid robots can continuously produce smaller robots—down to the size of a cell.
王兴兴说,“我们这一代人非常幸运,老一辈科研人员的技术积累达到了一定程度,让年轻人可以继承下来,做机器人的通用人工智能。这是以往没有的机会,它可以推动人类生产力进一步发展,给世界带来和平与公平。”