In recent years, the integration of robots into daily life has become more prominent, signaling the dawn of a new era in intelligent robotics. However, despite this progress, the service robot industry still faces significant challenges that need to be addressed. As the intelligent robotics era emerges, it's expanding the range of applications and service models for service robots, creating vast opportunities for China’s domestic service robot industry to catch up and even surpass global competitors.
That said, China's robotics sector still lags behind in key technologies and core component manufacturing, which limits the development and commercialization of service robots. The global service robot market has been growing steadily, with professional service robots reaching 13,741 units in 2010, showing a 4% year-on-year increase, while sales hit $32 billion, up 15%. Meanwhile, personal and family service robots saw 2.2 million units sold, a 35% rise, with revenue reaching $538 million, an impressive 39% increase.
Service robots are essentially a combination of artificial intelligence, electronics, and mechanical engineering. AI needs physical platforms to deliver real value, and service robots serve as one of the most important carriers for AI technology. Currently, the industrialization process of service robots is still in its early stages, with some sub-segments becoming mature, but overall, the industry remains in the introduction phase.
Domestic manufacturers mainly focus on system integration, while relying heavily on imported components such as reducers, controllers, and servo systems. According to Zhao Jie from Harbin Institute of Technology, Chinese service robots lack autonomy in software and core technologies. Key components like the servo system, motion control, and precision reducer are largely imported, with high-end parts accounting for 70-80% of imports. This leads to high costs, hindering widespread adoption in the consumer market.
While many researchers are focusing on areas like precise perception, artificial muscles, and cognitive interaction, it's essential to identify real industry pain points—such as demand scale, modular standardization, and cost control. Instead of pursuing universal bionics, efforts should be directed toward practical improvements.
Despite the huge potential demand for service robots in China, the industry is still in its early stage. Improvements in technological maturity, reliability, and user safety are necessary, especially when it comes to household use. Issues like data security, ethical concerns, and the absence of clear regulations also need to be addressed.
Many companies now prioritize features like speech recognition, computer vision, and semantic analysis, but these alone don’t fully reflect the value robots can bring to users. Increasingly, manufacturers are shifting their approach, focusing on user experience and real-world needs to create meaningful, value-driven service robots.
The industrial structure of China’s service robot market is still evolving, with high-frequency-demand intelligent robots becoming a major investment focus. With strong government support for AI and its inclusion in national policy, the future looks promising. Compared to industrial robots, service robots still have a long way to go before reaching full maturity.
As more service robots emerge, the future undoubtedly belongs to artificial intelligence. Yet, as the industry advances and the outlook brightens, it’s crucial to address the remaining challenges thoughtfully and effectively.
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