How military technology helped spark a robot revolution in China’s firework factories

Chinese firework manufacturers are replacing their human employees with robots equipped with cutting-edge technology that was first developed for the military.

At some factories in the central province of Hunan, which is home to the world’s largest firework production base, more than 90 per cent of workers have lost their jobs over the past three years, according to a report released by the provincial government.

But the increase in automation has also seen a 25-fold increase in efficiency of automated machines, the document said.

“This is a revolution,” it said.

Fireworks first appeared in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907) following the invention of gunpowder. Today, the country makes more than 80 per cent of the world’s fireworks.

While rockets and sparklers are usually associated with fun, the process of making them can be deadly.

According to a central government report published in 2014, people working in the fireworks industry were 10 times more likely to die in an accident than the average worker.

In 2010, 34 people were killed and 152 hurt in an explosion at a fireworks factory in Yichun, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province.

Scientists develop handheld sonic weapon for crowd control

It was incidents like that that led Beijing to launch a national research programme in 2012 to develop robotic technology to replace humans in the production of fireworks.

Lei Ming, the lead scientist on the programme, said he and his team found it difficult at first to find ways to apply state-of-the-art technology to an antiquated industry.

“Fireworks production is a small, backward sector of manufacturing, but our machines needed to be smart, extremely reliable and use cutting-edge technology. It was like the first contact of two worlds,” he said.

Lei, who is chief engineer at Liuyang Zhongzhou Fireworks Group in Hunan – one of the world’s largest firework manufacturers – said the problem was solved with the aid of the military.

China’s defence industry had been working for many years on ways to reduce the number of people working in bomb factories and had achieved significant progress on the development of robots capable of handling explosives

Robots threaten more than 120 million jobs globally, survey finds

Lei said that while the People’s Liberation Army was willing to share its impressive technology – under a national policy known as “civilian-military fusion” – its cost put it beyond the reach of the fireworks companies. So he and his team set about finding a way to make it more affordable.

But it was not easy, he said. Unlike the robots employed in less explosive industries, in his sector high reliability was a prerequisite, as one slip or misstep could result in a devastating blast.

“We almost quit,” he said.

But with support from the central government – in the form of funding and approval for factory tests– the breakthrough was made.

According to the Hunan government’s report, the province now has 10 automated production lines.

Lei said that with the help of government support, even smaller producers were now able to adopt the new technology by renting the robots for a relatively small fee.

Zhan Fengbin, a manager at the Jinlilai Fireworks company in Liling, Hunan, said that at first he doubted the robots would be as good as humans at making fireworks and firecrackers, as experience had always been key to the process.

Robotics start-up Geek+ in push to expand China’s smart logistics

But after running some tests and making some adjustments to the machines they were “working like a charm”, he said.

“And now the burden of the safety risk has been lifted from my shoulders I smile a lot more.”

One of the hardest challenges for the developers was teaching the robots how to bake and shape the gunpowder, which first has to be moistened so it can be moulded into balls and then dried thoroughly.

In the past the process was done by hand by only the most experienced workers, but the machines have now taken over.

Robots also carry the explosives from one location to another and insert fuses into the firing tubes – a job that once demanded the dexterity of delicate fingers.

But the biggest challenge, Lei said, was making sure the metallic workers did not give off sparks or produce too much static electricity, either of which could spark a blast.

“We solved the problem by making some design changes and using different materials,” he said. “Even if there is an explosion, we also have barriers to contain it so that none of the other machines are affected.”

Lei said his company had no intention of replacing all of its human employees, as they were still necessary for some tasks, like carrying out quality inspections. About 10 people still worked on each production line, he said.

But if labour costs continued to rise, they too would go, he said.

“Technology is ready [to replace them],” he said.