On December 26, according to the "Star Daily" (Reporter Tang Zhixiao), another local auto enterprise has focused on the embodied intelligent track.

Today, Guangzhou Automobile Group launched the self-developed third-generation embodied intelligent humanoid robot GoMate. It is reported that this robot has 38 degrees of freedom and adopts an industry-first variable wheeled foot mobile structure, integrating both four-legged and two-legged modes.

The height of the robot in a stable four-legged state is approximately 1.4 meters, while the standing height in two-legged mode can reach 1.75 meters. In four-legged mode, the robot can steadily go up and down stairs, climb slopes, and overcome obstacles on one side; in two-legged mode, the robot's movements are flexible and efficient, occupying less space.

Regarding the product, Zhang Aimin, the head of the robotics R&D team at Guangzhou Automobile Group, stated: "This humanoid robot is expected to achieve mass global sales of self-researched components in 2025, while demonstrating applications in different industries; by 2026, small batch production will be completed and gradually expand to large-scale production."

It is reported that currently several auto enterprises, including Guangzhou Automobile Group, have entered the field of embodied intelligent humanoid robots, and some companies have already explored applying humanoid robots in the auto manufacturing sector.

Some investors believe that auto companies may be attracted to the humanoid robots due to their similar structure to humans, high flexibility, and adaptability, believing they can play an important role in the auto manufacturing process. However, for humanoid robots to achieve large-scale popularity and application, breakthroughs in technology, cost, and market acceptance are still needed.

Many auto companies are targeting the embodied intelligent track.

According to reports, the application scenarios envisioned by Guangzhou Automobile Group for the humanoid robot GoMate include security, healthcare, and the aftermarket for Autos, and in the future, it will also be applied in Logistics, Education, and more.

In order to enable GoMate to perform precise movement control and respond to voice commands within milliseconds, GoMate integrates Guangzhou Automobile Group's self-developed pure vision autonomous driving algorithm and supports cloud-based multimodal large models.

Zhang Aimin introduced that the variable wheel-foot mobile structure design not only improves the robot's adaptability and stability in complex environments but also reduces energy consumption, achieving energy savings of over 80% compared to similar products. It is reported that this robot uses the all-solid-state Battery developed by Guangzhou Automobile Group, with a battery life of up to 6 hours.

Guangzhou Automobile Group claims that GoMate has achieved complete self-research and development of core components such as dexterous hands, drives, and Electric Machines, truly realizing independent innovation.

As early as before Guangzhou Automobile Group, several automobile manufacturers had announced their entry into the humanoid robot field.

Tesla released the humanoid robot Optimus and announced that it would be trialed at the Tesla Gigafactory. Optimus is already performing factory tasks and is expected to see wider use in the coming years, with plans for Optimus to execute a series of useful tasks in the factory by the end of 2024.

Automakers including Dongfeng Liuqi, BYD, and NIO have chosen to collaborate with UBTECH to conduct practical training with its Walker S series humanoid robots in their own factories.

BYD's automobile manufacturing workshop will see humanoid robots collaborate with unmanned logistics vehicles, unmanned forklifts, Industrial Mobile Robots, and Intelligent Manufacturing management systems; NIO, on the other hand, mainly uses humanoid robots for practical training in two areas: multitasking in confined spaces and quality inspection of certain projects.

This year, Xiaopeng Motors announced that it would release its second-generation humanoid robot at Technology Day. The robot is reportedly based on an end-to-end autonomous driving model and features over 60 joints, allowing it to perform a variety of intricate tasks. The robot is expected to play an important role in Xiaopeng Motors' factories and sales scenarios, enhancing production efficiency and customer experience.

In April of this year, Chery Automotive collaborated with AI company Aimoga to jointly develop the humanoid robot Mornine, which can accurately understand human language interaction intentions and convert them into specific action strategies and language output. Chery intends to apply this at the retail sales end.

In an interview with the Star Daily, Bai Wenxi, Vice Chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance, stated: "In the future, different types of humanoid robots will have different application scenarios. For example, bipedal humanoid robots may carry out delicate operations on assembly lines; wheeled humanoid robots may handle material transportation and collaboration in parts warehouses; humanoid robots could serve as new customer service representatives or exhibition guides, offering new human-machine interaction methods to serve customers."

It still takes time for robots to enter factories for "screwing operations."

In recent years, national and local governments have introduced a series of policies to encourage the development of the robotics industry, including the "Robot +" application action implementation plan and the implementation opinions on promoting innovation and development of future industries, among others. These policies provide strong support for the development of the humanoid robot industry, including R&D subsidies, tax incentives, and industrial park construction, which reduce R&D costs and risks for enterprises, stimulating car manufacturers' enthusiasm to enter this field.

There are also opinions that one of the main factors for car manufacturers focusing on humanoid robots is the commonality and transferability of R&D technology. Car manufacturers have accumulated rich technologies and experiences in the auto manufacturing process, such as Industrial Machinery manufacturing, electronic control, Sensors technology, Battery technology, and intelligent control, which can provide a solid foundation for the development of humanoid robots.

On December 25, Li Xiang from Li Auto responded to whether they will develop humanoid robots by stating that the probability is definitely 100%, but the timing is not now. 'If we can't even solve L4 level autonomous driving cars, how can we tackle more complex application scenarios? Cars are the simplest robots, if cars cannot be realized, other AI robots will also be very limited.'

Angel investor Guo Tao told the Star Daily reporter: "Humanoid robots have not yet achieved large-scale popularization and application, which is mainly limited by technology, cost, and market acceptance. From a technical perspective, the R&D of humanoid robots involves multiple disciplines, and the technology has not yet fully matured, with many technical bottlenecks needing breakthrough, such as motion control, perception, and interaction; from a cost perspective, the R&D and production costs of humanoid robots are relatively high, leading to expensive pricing that makes widespread application challenging."

Industry practitioners believe that various types of robots have been introduced into car manufacturing workshops for a long time, and automation has been completed in the stamping, welding, and painting workshops.

The practitioner added: "Currently, humanoid robots require a large operating space, and the hardware, especially the processing power of sensors and algorithms, has its limits, which is insufficient to support operations with many steps. Therefore, the processes that humanoid robots can perform on the assembly line in the auto industry are still quite limited. For humanoid robots to be truly applied in the New energy Fund industry, they need to deepen their understanding of the scenarios and break through more technological boundaries."