The robot dog officially "debuted" at the Foshan 50km hiking event. (Provided by the interviewee)

The robot dog developed by Hu Hao and his team

Nowadays, Foshan also has its own "machine Wang". At the recent Foshan 50km hiking event, a robot dog simulating a lion dance became the focus of the scene, attracting many citizens to come and interact.

It is reported that this lively and agile "robot Wang" is built by the intelligent robot R&D team of the Intelligent Manufacturing College of Shunde Vocational and Technical College of Foshan University, and is based on the Unitree Technology robot dog A9 and developed by the MIT Cheetah open source machine model. In the future, this Foshan will make a "machine Wang" or welcome the "master" of the robot. According to the person in charge of the team, the team's self-developed humanoid robot is already "on the way" and will be unveiled as soon as 0 this year. This will be the first self-developed humanoid robot of Foshan universities, focusing on the integrated innovation capabilities of Foshan universities in the field of robotics.

Text, photo/Guangzhou Daily all-media reporter Huang Zining

Implanting innovative technology Foshan "Robot Wang" can perform lion dance

This "machine wang" can "feel" the rhythm of the drum and swing its body, and can also simulate the lion to perform simple "head swing" and "small broken steps", which is vivid.

A few days ago, in the Guangdong-Aachen Industry 0.0 Application Research Center of Shunde Vocational and Technical College, the reporter saw this "machine Wang" made in Foshan. At the scene, the "machine Wang" was dressed in a "lion quilt", like a mini version of the little awakening lion, which looked cute and cute.

Robot dogs have become the "new favorite" of science and technology. With the realization of open source and maturity of quadruped robot technology, a number of quadruped robot products imitating puppies have been introduced to the market, and there has been a scene of people walking "machine Wang" in the city.

Under the trend of R&D and manufacturing of quadruped robots, Foshan also has its own "machine Wang". It is reported that this mimicking lion's "robot Wang" is developed and manufactured by the intelligent manufacturing robot R&D team of Shunde Vocational and Technical College. It is particularly worth mentioning that it is of the same origin as the Unitree robot dog A1, and its prototype comes from the open-source MIT cheetah robot.

At present, a mature quadruped robot (robot dog) product on the market includes a complete mechanical structure, high-precision sensors, flexible motion control system and accurate algorithms. In order to make the robot dog move and adapt to various environments, it technically requires efficient and close coupling of software and hardware.

"The computing unit and joint module are the core key of the robot dog." Dr. Hu Hao, an associate researcher at Shunzhi Institute, is one of the leaders of the team, and he said that the motion mechanism of the quadruped robot is through the collaboration of bionic structure design, dynamic balance algorithm and multi-sensor fusion, which converts electrical energy into precise joint movement, and finally realizes the all-terrain adaptability of organisms "For example, the algorithm can be converted into a physical signal through the computing unit, and then drive the joint module of the robot dog, so that the robot dog can walk and jump." Hu Hao said that the computing unit is like the "brain" of the robot dog, which can "calculate" the movement gait, the landing point and angle of the foot joint, etc., and further direct the robot dog to move through the calculation of the "brain".

It is reported that the "Machine Wang" developed by Shunde University has been upgraded in the motion module and computing unit to adapt to some new display scenes. "Combined with the local folk culture of Foshan, we have developed a special lion dance motion control algorithm and an adapted motor module for it, so that it can be advanced to 'lion dance machine Wang'." Hu Hao said that in order to allow the robot dog to imitate the movements of the lion dance, the team dismantled and analyzed the movements of the traditional lion dance in Foshan, and carried out corresponding AI learning and training, and finally presented it on the joint module of the robot dog through the computing unit. "In the future, we will improve the mechanical structure of the front and rear legs, develop more professional lion dance movements, and make our robot dog more 'Foshan'." Hu Hao said.

Aiming at the application scenario, "Robot Wang" can show its talents

In Hu Hao's view, "machine Wang" can "show his skills" in Foshan. He told reporters that Foshan is a big manufacturing city with a variety of rich industrial application scenarios, and "Machine Wang" can be deeply integrated into it to play a role.

For example, as the manufacturing industry continues to move towards industrial upgrading, the demand for the renovation of a number of factories is highlighted, but the old factory lacks transformation drawings, and then the "machine Wang" can appear. "In the future, the robot dog can be equipped with detection equipment, transformed into a surveying and mapping robot dog, and independently scanning, mapping, and building models of the factory area, so as to solve the problem of old factory renovation in one stop." In addition, the strong weight-bearing capacity of the robot dog also helps itself to extend more capabilities, such as being able to carry various equipment to achieve intelligent inspection and intelligent logistics.

At present, the emergence of "machine Wang" made in Foshan has filled some gaps in the field of quadruped robot technology in Foshan. Similarly, the emergence of the intelligent robot R&D team of the Intelligent Manufacturing College of Shunde Vocational and Technical College has also injected fresh blood into local robot technology innovation talents.

　　據悉，隨著近年來佛山機器人產業蓬勃發展，產業鏈逐步成形，人才“吸力”也逐步增強。佛山高校主動引入機器人產業相關的高層次人才入校。胡浩在這一背景下來到了順德。2018年，胡浩於法國巴黎高科高等工藝大學計算機輔助設計專業博士畢業后，先後在位於佛山順德的廣東博智林機器人有限公司和位於杭州的西湖大學從事AI驅動的機器人運動控制研究，主持“落地”多款建築機器人和足式機器人。值得一提的是，在西湖大學期間，胡浩還主持過四足機器人的相關研發工作，因此其在這一領域有著豐富的經驗。

　　憑藉個人優秀的履歷，在順德職業技術學院的人才引進之下，去年10月起，胡浩及團隊成員正式入駐該校，並迅速組建起一支佛山高校的機器人研發“突擊隊”。“佛山市場龐大，應用場景多，我們的技術更能有效‘落地’。此外，我們需要通過高校的力量，培育更多產業相關的人才。”談到緣何再次選擇佛山時，胡浩說。

Facing technical challenges, colleges and universities self-developed humanoid robots are "on the road"

In the future, this Foshan "machine Wang" may usher in the "master" of the robot. According to the person in charge of the team, the team's self-developed humanoid robot is currently "on the way" and will be unveiled as soon as 9 this year. This will be the first self-developed humanoid robot of Foshan universities, focusing on demonstrating the integrated innovation capabilities of Foshan universities in the field of robotics.

"At present, the product is in the experimental stage of the simulation system." Hu Hao revealed that in order to reduce the cost of trial and error, the team's humanoid robot research and development is making full use of digital intelligence means to conduct tests before the official "landing" through the simulation system.

"A humanoid robot machine contains a series of core components, and after 'running' in the virtual world through the simulation system, the team will quickly 'land' the entity and combine the adapted core components to produce a mature humanoid robot." Hu Hao said that at present, the migration of robots from the simulation system to the physical world still requires a lot of engineering problems to check one by one.

In the view of Hu Hao's team, the core components of humanoid robots can be found in Foshan. "Don't worry at all, Foshan has a mature robot industry chain." He told reporters that the core motor products of the control system can be found in Shunde. Despite this, Hu Hao said that in the future, the team will work more on AI, algorithms and other technologies. "How to promote the coupling between the software and hardware of humanoid robot products is what we need to further study." This, he said, would test the team's "hard power".

"Led by a university team, it is still relatively rare to achieve independent research and development of humanoid robots." As one of the team leaders, Fan Qiyuan, an associate professor at the school's School of Intelligent Manufacturing, told reporters that he hoped that Shunde Vocational and Technical College would take the lead in breaking through and "accelerating" on the track of Foshan humanoid robots.