In the past week, the field of industrial robots has ushered in a number of major developments, from technological innovation to industrial policy to international cooperation, showing a comprehensive acceleration trend.
1. New product release: Canop released a wheeled humanoid robot
On March 22, Robotics released its wheeled humanoid robot for the first time at its Global Partner Conference.
This new product adopts a structure that combines wheeled movement and humanoid operating arm, equipped with 33 flexible drive joints, which can achieve sub-millimeter-level high-precision motion control, and is suitable for industrial inspection, sorting, handling and other scenarios in complex environments such as factories, ports, and warehouses.
Starting from the research and development of robot controllers, it has formed a matrix of more than 70 products covering industrial robots, collaborative robots, embodied intelligent robots, etc., which are widely used in automobiles and parts, 3C electronics and other fields.
2. Output data: 31.1% increase in the first two months
According to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to February 2026, China's industrial robot output will reach 143608 sets, a year-on-year increase of 31.1%, and the growth rate will exceed 27% in the same period last year.
This growth is due to strong support for factory automation across the country. According to data previously released by the International Federation of Robotics, China's installed industrial robots will account for 54% of the world's installed capacity in 2024, reaching 295,000 sets, far exceeding Japan's 44,500 sets and the United States' 34,200 sets, ranking first in the world.
3. National standards: robots have a unified "Mandarin"
In mid-March, China's first national standard for general intelligent control systems in the field of robotics, "Overall Architecture of Robot Intelligent Control System" (GB/T 47245-2026), was officially released.
The far-reaching significance of this standard is that in the past, robots were "dedicated to special machines", and the control system had to be redone when the hardware changed a little. The new national standard unifies interfaces and communication protocols, allowing robots from different manufacturers to be seamlessly connected, and developers can reuse hardware and migrate algorithms like "building blocks". As experts involved in the formulation of the standard said, this set of "universal brains" allows robots to be multi-purpose, transforming from factory assembly lines to farmland transplanters with only one software upgrade. This means that China is moving from "making products" to "making rules".
4. Industrial Collaboration: UBTECH and Siemens Aim for 10,000 Units of Mass Production
On March 16th, UBTECH and Siemens Digital Industries Software signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Shenzhen, with the goal of achieving 10,000 units of humanoid robot mass production by the end of 2026. UBTECH founder Zhou Jian stated that since the beginning of this year, the demand for industrial humanoid robots has shown an "explosive growth", with a significant increase in orders. Mass production at the ten-thousand-unit scale has become an essential goal to be achieved. According to the agreement, Siemens will contribute its expertise in digital manufacturing processes to help UBTECH establish a new manufacturing infrastructure, covering the entire production chain from component development to final system integration. Notably, Siemens is not only a technical partner but also a large enterprise with over 250 factories worldwide - this means that UBTECH's robots have the opportunity to be deployed in Siemens factories, accessing valuable industrial scene data and obtaining the quality endorsement of "Made in Germany". This "Chinese technology + German manufacturing" model may become a new paradigm for international collaboration in the robot industry.
5. International Dynamics: FANUC Partners with NVIDIA, Hyundai Heavy Industries Tests Welding Robots
FANUC and NVIDIA Collaborate on AI Robots
Global industrial robot giant FANUC is collaborating with NVIDIA to integrate NVIDIA's Jetson edge computing modules and Isaac Sim simulation framework into its robot product line. The collaboration focuses on "physical AI" - enabling robots to observe, reason, and adapt to dynamic environments rather than following pre-set fixed paths. FANUC has supported Python programming and ROS 2 drivers in its entire robot series (with load capacities ranging from 3kg to 2.3 tons) and utilizes AI to enable robots to understand voice commands and generate code automatically, significantly lowering the programming threshold.
Hyundai Heavy Industries Initiates Verification of Shipyard Welding Humanoid Robots
South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries, in collaboration with Hyundai Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Hyundai Robotics, and the US-based Persona AI, has signed a joint development agreement for a shipyard-specific welding humanoid robot and has entered the verification stage. The prototype of this project was completed in the past year, and its technical practicality has been recognized. Hyundai Robotics is responsible for system integration and quality control system development, while Persona AI is responsible for developing a bipedal humanoid platform that can move stably in shipyards. South Korea stated that this shipyard-specific humanoid robot will become the core foundation of future smart shipyards, enhancing production efficiency while ensuring worker safety.
At the CES 2026 exhibition, Boston Dynamics showcased the mass-produced Atlas all-electric humanoid robot, which has been piloted with industrial partners such as Hyundai Motor; Shanghai Zhiyuan Robotics released the A2 series of humanoid robots globally, targeting service and logistics automation scenarios; and German NEURA Robotics launched the 4NE1 Gen 3, emphasizing human-robot safety collaboration and multi-task learning capabilities.
6. Trend Outlook
Based on recent developments, the industrial robot industry is showing three major trends:
From automation to intelligence: Traditional robots follow pre-set programs, while the new generation of robots integrating AI and VLA (Vision-Language-Action) models have the capabilities of environmental perception, autonomous decision-making, and continuous learning.
Accelerated commercialization of humanoid robots: 2026 is seen as a key year for humanoid robots to shift from "scattered trials" to "mass production". UBTECH has clearly set a target of 10,000 units of production capacity, and Boston Dynamics and Zyadun have also launched mass production models.
China's role shifts from "market" to "rule maker": The release of the national standard for intelligent control systems of industrial robots indicates that China is participating in defining the technical architecture and interface standards of the next generation of robots, laying the foundation for domestic robots to go global.