The future blueprint for mobile robots in 2023

It is said that there is no need to look back on the past, but in reality, the past often needs to be talked about and reviewed for future reference.

In the past 2022, work and life were full of uncertainty, but the Gaogong Mobile team was still moving forward. On the one hand, it kept a close eye on the changes in the robotics industry, paid attention to the dynamics of the robotics industry, and shared information in various forms such as numbers, pictures, etc. On the other hand, it analyzed the pain points of the industry from a perspective that was higher than the industry but not separated from the industry, serving as the "foundation" of the industry and driving the industry forward.

There are many difficulties and limitations in reality, but we are very lucky that someone trusts us, gives us a lot of information about the robotics industry, and walks with us. Finally, in 2022, the Gaogong Robotics team handed in a qualified "answer sheet", publishing more than 400 WeChat messages throughout the year, with a total cumulative reading volume of more than 700,000 times.

The number of followers does not represent the quality of the article, but it certainly reflects the focus of the market. In this regard, Gaogong Mobile Robot has compiled the TOP10 hot articles/good articles in 2022. Let's review them together! (The reading volume statistics are as of December 31, 2022. The following articles are in no particular order. You can click on the title to review the original text)

▌2022, Hikvision Robotics' journey to improve internal logistics

Every move of the giant always attracts the attention of the entire industry. In the past, we summarized Hikvision Robotics' performance in the field of mobile robots as "intensive cultivation and ubiquitous".

So, what will be the key words for Hikvision Robotics in 2022? Cost-effectiveness? Inland logistics? Deepening the development of terminal industries? Or “I want all”?

▌Purdue lays off thousands of employees and cuts business, and cannot escape the "seven-year itch"

Zhang Tao, CEO of delivery robot giant Purdue Technology, sent an announcement letter in the early morning of July 4, 2022, "In order for the company to survive, after a long discussion, we had to make a difficult decision to downsize the company's business."

Why did Purdue Technology, which was established seven years ago and has raised five rounds of financing and is favored by Meituan Dianping and Sequoia China, suddenly start to lay off employees and cut business? What reference value does this incident have for us in the mobile robot track? How should we view it? In the end, we may just need to remember one sentence: "The market will abandon the enterprise without saying hello . "

▌Jingsong officially landed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, with a market value of over 3.5 billion yuan

The past 2022 was by no means a good year for companies planning to go public. According to incomplete statistics, from January to April 2022, a total of 116 new stocks were listed on the A-share market, of which 75 have fallen below the issue price, accounting for about 65%. Among them, 34 stocks broke the issue price on the first day of listing, and the number has already exceeded the whole year of 2021.

In a bad market, Jingsong Intelligent Technology has made a strong debut on the Science and Technology Innovation Board. As of the close of the first day of the first listing, Jingsong Intelligent Technology's share price rose by more than 60%, and its market value reached 3.5 billion yuan. This undoubtedly proves that Jingsong Intelligent Technology has strong technical strength, but it may also reflect the inevitability and necessity of smart logistics.

▌The "school" dispute of unmanned forklifts

In recent years, unmanned forklifts have continued to be a hot topic in the market. Both traditional forklift companies and new cross-border manufacturers are actively deploying unmanned forklift products. According to new product release data, as of September 2022, the mobile robot market has released a total of 53 new products, of which unmanned forklifts account for more than 26%. At present, there are more than 100 companies in China involved in the unmanned forklift business.

Different corporate genes forge different corporate characteristics, which in turn form unique market strategies . So, what are the schools of unmanned forklift players? What are their characteristics?

▌Continuously won orders from South Korea/Middle East/North America, Huarui Technology pressed the fast-forward button for going overseas

In recent years, there has been a wave of enthusiasm for going overseas in China. From 3C, logistics to automobile fields, there are many active players in going overseas. As the Chinese mobile robot industry started at the same level as international companies, it is natural that it is unwilling to lag behind and will go overseas and take the initiative to develop a global layout.

How to overcome the unfamiliar environment and seize overseas markets? From August to October 2022 alone, Huarui Technology has won orders from South Korea, the Middle East, North America and other countries and regions. From Huarui Technology's overseas strategy, we in the mobile robot industry can explore and learn what overseas experience.

▌Top 10 Competitiveness Rankings of Chinese Four-way Shuttle Car Manufacturers in 2021

The development of four-way shuttles has brought new options for the development of intelligent logistics. Especially in complex scenarios, the high flexibility, high safety and high adaptability of four-way shuttles are more prominent, which can meet the storage and picking needs of any cargo position in the three-dimensional space of the vertical warehouse. After several years of development, compared with foreign brands, although domestic brands started a little later, the quality and performance of four-way shuttles have been greatly improved, and they have strong price advantages. The market's cognition and recognition of domestic manufacturers is also continuously improving.

GGII has sorted out and investigated most of China's four-way shuttle vehicle manufacturers, combined public data with interviews with industry experts, and comprehensively considered the companies' overall performance in technological innovation, financing capabilities, market performance, etc., and selected the TOP 10 Chinese four-way shuttle vehicle manufacturers' competitiveness rankings in 2021.

▌To enter the commercial cleaning robot market, you need a sharp sword

The combination of factors such as the emerging trend, uncertain pattern, low penetration rate and vast space has made the commercial cleaning robot market regarded as "the next blue ocean market that is about to explode". Data shows that the scale of China's commercial cleaning market in 2021 has reached nearly 60 billion yuan, and maintained a stable growth trend; among them, cleaning services, as the most important alternative to commercial robots, account for nearly 70% of the overall commercial cleaning market, with a scale of about 40 billion yuan.

Undoubtedly, the unlimited imagination and growth potential are the "eye-catching labels" of the commercial cleaning robot market in its early stages. But what preparations do companies need to make to fully enter the commercial cleaning robot market?

▌Why don’t mobile robot companies make money?

At present, mobile robots have passed the market cultivation stage, and user recognition and acceptance have been greatly improved. In the commercialization stage, there will be obvious differentiation among mobile robot players, and "occupying land" will become inevitable. A number of companies have occupied market share through price wars.

However, the "crazy" players selectively overlooked one thing: for a company's development, is scale or profit more important?

▌Mobile robots on Mount Everest: How powerful is UAI’s inspection scenario?

When it comes to robots, we all think it is a very imaginative and cool industry. In fact, it is true. When climbing Mount Everest was still the ultimate challenge for mankind, mobile robots were already walking on the top of Mount Everest, helping humans explore the unknown and escorting them.

So, what necessary preparations are needed for mobile robots to climb Mount Everest? And what kind of future blueprint can we draw for mobile robots to climb Mount Everest?

▌The debut is the peak? Xiaomi humanoid robot may need some further polishing

In 2018, Honda Motor Co. announced that it would stop developing the ASIMO project, and the 18-year-old ASIMO humanoid robot was frozen in the summer of that year. In 2021, Softbank Robocs, a subsidiary of Japan's SoftBank Group, announced that it would stop producing the Pepper humanoid robot.

In 2022, Xiaomi Group launched its first full-size humanoid bionic robot CyberOne. As a result, the public has fantasized about it, such as "wait for robots to cook and clean in the future" and "in the future, they may be like robot butlers, and they may be used for elderly care and assistants for the disabled."

However, it is worth mentioning that the 0-1 of current humanoid robot products has not been solved at all, that is, mass production is not feasible at present. In this context, we may have to say to Xiaomi's humanoid robot: "It takes some more work."

Editor: Huang Fei