Chinese-built robot that can do quick Covid-19 oral swab tests, other pandemic-related automata shine in Beijing tech show

Covid-19 and healthcare-related robotic applications made up a quarter of 36 new machines featured at the annual World Robot Conference in Beijing
That reflects the urgency of putting robots on the front lines to help human workers deal with Covid-19 control measures being enforced across China

Robotics

Coco Fengin Beijing

Published: 8:04pm, 18 Aug, 2022

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An automaton that can perform a Covid-19 oral swab test in 35 seconds became a star attraction at the opening on Thursday of the World Robot Conference 2022 in Beijing, where a quarter of the 36 featured robotic innovations are built for pandemic prevention and medical care.

That new robot was designed by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) – a state-owned enterprise known for developing and manufacturing spacecraft, launch vehicles and tactical missiles – to mark the company’s initial foray into automated Covid-19 testing products. This machine could soon be deployed by the General Administration of Customs in Beijing to test arriving airline passengers from abroad, according to Wang Shunwei, head of CASIC’s technology innovation centre.

While work on that robot started in 2020, Wang said CASIC needed to overcome several technical challenges, such as adjusting the robotic arm’s power upon touching a person’s throat and completely disinfecting after each test, before the machine was exhibited in public.

Conference attendees on Thursday also flocked to see another machine that collects Covid-19 oral swab samples built by Siasun Robot & Automation Co, a Shenzhen-listed company under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Visitors at the opening of the World Robot Conference 2022 in Beijing on August 18, 2022, are seen testing artificial intelligence-powered robotic walkers that can assist people who have difficulty walking. Photo: Simon Song

The interest in machines for pandemic prevention and medical care at this year’s World Robot Conference, which concludes on August 21, reflects the urgency of putting these robots on the front lines to help human workers deal with Covid-19 control measures that are being enforced across China.

Labour-intensive Covid-19 tests form part of China’s zero-tolerance policy against the pandemic. Major cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, demand visitors take Covid-19 tests and record negative results before they enter any public venue.

One or two confirmed positive cases can prompt mass testing of millions of people, which has fatigued many of the hazmat-suited frontline workers who conduct these tests.

Deploying a robot to perform those tests will not only relieve frontline workers from such stressful, repetitive occupation, it can also help reduce the risk of medical staff getting infected, according to Wang from CASIC.

Surgical robot maker Beijing Shurui Technology Co shows a surgical trolley performing an operation at the opening of the World Robot Conference in Beijing on August 18, 2022. Photo: Simon Song

Shanghai-based Keenon Robotics, which is known for making food delivery robots, presented at the conference a robot designed to work hotels and makeshift hospitals for infected Covid-19 patients. This new machine was deployed at some Shanghai makeshift hospitals earlier this year when the Chinese financial hub was hit hard by a fresh coronavirus outbreak and subsequently went into a lengthy, citywide lockdown, according to a Keenon employee at the company’s exhibit area.

Many Chinese robotics firms have seen a surge in demand for their products since the Covid-19 pandemic started in 2020. Their robots have been deployed in hospitals and other public areas to deliver food and medicine, disinfect public spaces, and measure body temperature and help diagnose patients through questionnaires provided by doctors.

This year’s edition of the World Robot Conference in Beijing has expanded the exhibition area for healthcare robots by a significant amount from last year, according to Liang Liang, a deputy secretary general of the Chinese Institute of Electronics, without elaborating. The institute is one of the organisers of the annual conference.

This year’s edition of the annual World Robot Conference in Beijing runs from August 18 to 21, 2022. Photo: Simon Song

The annual event, which started from 2015, is jointly hosted by the Beijing municipal government, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the China Association for Science and Technology to showcase the country’s latest breakthroughs in robotics applications.

With China having the largest pool of elderly population on the planet, demand for innovative robotics applications is expected to increase amid a rapidly ageing society over the next 20 to 30 years.

In what may be a positive sign for the country’s robotics industry, President Xi Jinping visited on Wednesday the factory of Siasun in the northeast city of Shenyang, according to a report by Xinhua News Agency. Xi was on a tour of northeastern Liaoning province, known as China’s rust belt because its development lags far behind the rich coastal provinces.

A robot named “Animal”, which can be used in industrial applications, is shown to the public by China Electronics Technology Group Corp in its exhibition area at this year’s edition of the World Robot Conference Beijing on August 18, 2022. Photo: Simon Song

But the road to profitability remains bumpy for many Chinese robotics companies even as the country has been the top industrial robot consumer for eight consecutive years, according to a report published on Thursday by Shanghai-based venture capital firm Yunqi Partners. It said China’s “robot density” stands at 246 robots per 10,000 workers in the manufacturing sector, or nearly double the worldwide average.

One example of lingering uncertainty in the industry is Pudu Technology, which was a rising star in the market for catering robots and received 1 billion yuan (US$147 million) from investors that include Tencent Holdings, Meituan and Sequoia Capital last year. In July, the company announced lay-offs that were expected to affect about 800 employees.

“The essence of business is to make money, so from this perspective, the entire industry didn’t meet the basic standard,” Pudu founder and chief executive Felix Zhang Tao said in a leaked internal letter in July.

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