Dongfeng’s humanoid robot Xiaodong is scheduled to enter a factory for training by the end of October, according to Zhang Zhenlin, the automaker’s chief engineer for intelligent technology. The robot is expected to take part in trial production by the end of this year, with small-batch production planned for next year.
Xiaodong is being developed for manufacturing tasks including sorting, material handling and quality inspection. Dongfeng said it is validating the robot in sorting automotive materials and is working toward autonomous execution across more flexible production tasks.
The executive said capabilities from Dongfeng’s vehicle, intelligent-cockpit and robotics development can be reused across the businesses to speed commercialization. [Changjiang Daily, in Chinese]