On December 13, a recruitment information released by BYD attracted widespread attention, and the direction of recruitment is exactly the popular embodied intelligence track today.
According to BYD's official recruitment microblog, BYD will recruit embodied intelligence research teams for the 2025 master's and doctoral graduates from global universities. The graduation time for domestic institutions is September 2024 to August 2025, and the graduation time for overseas institutions is July 2024 to December 2025.
The required majors include mechanical, automation, mechanics, computer, mathematics, electronic information, electrical, etc. The recruitment positions mainly involve senior algorithm engineers, senior structural engineers, etc., and the research directions involve deep learning, perception, humanoid robots, quadruped robot dogs, etc.
According to BYD, its embodied intelligence research team was established in 2022. By deeply exploring the company's large-scale application scenario needs, it has carried out customized development of various robot bodies and systems, continuously enhanced the robot's perception and decision-making capabilities, and promoted the implementation of embodied intelligence in the industrial field. At present, the team has developed process robots, intelligent collaborative robots, intelligent mobile robots, humanoid robots and other products.
As a bridge connecting virtual space and real space, "embodied intelligence" refers to the integration of AI into physical entities such as robots, giving them the ability to perceive, learn and dynamically interact with the environment like humans.
The term "embodied intelligence" itself has a strong technical philosophical color. In 1945, French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty proposed the concept of "embodiment", believing that humans need to interact and perceive the surrounding environment through their bodies to understand the world. In 1950, British computer scientist Turing, known as the "father of AI", first proposed the concept of "embodied intelligence" in his paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence".
In fact, industrial robots (robotic arms) with relatively low intelligence levels have long been widely used in the manufacturing industry, bringing quality and efficiency improvements. However, traditional industrial robots are a combination of "fixed programs + robotic arms", while robots empowered by "embodied intelligence" are an iteration of "multimodal perception + brain decision-making".
Taking the breakthrough of the large language model as an opportunity, by giving AI specific physical entities (such as robots and automated equipment, etc.), it can interact with the real world, and embodied intelligence has become the key for AI to enter the physical world. This popular track has also attracted domestic technology leaders such as Huawei and Xiaomi to enter the market.
Recently, Xiaoyu Intelligent Manufacturing, a large model robot company founded by the core founding team of Xiaomi Group, completed a new round of financing, and the investor is Beijing Information Industry Development Investment Fund. This financing will be used to increase R&D efforts, promote product innovation, and enhance market competitiveness. This is also the second time that Xiaoyu Intelligent Manufacturing has completed a billion-level financing after receiving angel round investments from Xiaomi Group, Zhongguancun Zhiyou Scientist Fund, Beijing Zhiyuan Research Institute, etc.
In November, at the "Qianhai Bao'an AI to the Future-Innovation Results of Artificial Intelligence Applications" press conference, Huawei (Shenzhen) Global Embodied Intelligence Industry Innovation Center (referred to as "Huawei Embodied Intelligence Center") announced its official operation. As a frontier field of artificial intelligence, embodied intelligence (artificial intelligence systems with physical form) emphasizes the real-time interaction capabilities of intelligent systems and the environment. Relying on the strong manufacturing base of Bao'an District and combining the advantages of Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong science and technology innovation policies, the Huawei Embodied Intelligence Center is committed to promoting the international frontier development of embodied intelligence technology.
At the meeting, Huawei Embodied Intelligence Center signed a memorandum of cooperation with 16 companies, including Leju Robotics, Topstar, Zhaowei Electromechanical and many other well-known technology companies. The center aims to unite enterprises for collaborative innovation, build a high-level innovation platform, provide one-stop product technology trading services, and help the distribution and upgrading of the global embodied intelligence industry chain. The establishment of this center not only shows Huawei's in-depth layout in the field of embodied intelligence, but will also inject new vitality into the technological innovation and industrial upgrading of Shenzhen and even the world.
According to Xinhua News Agency, Xu Huazhe, assistant professor at the Institute of Cross-disciplinary Information Sciences of Tsinghua University, believes that robots in the future will present a variety of forms: bipedal, quadrupedal, wheeled, mechanical dogs, intelligent drones and even mechanical bees, but humanoid robots are the most adaptable to human society and will become the robots that can best help humans.
Humanoid robots can solve the problem of the "last mile" of the production line. Many personalized and customized products cannot be assembled uniformly on the assembly line, which requires humanoid robots with generalization capabilities to "help" assemble mass-produced parts into products according to customers' customized needs. In more complex and changeable scenarios such as home services and public services, humanoid robots are also more advantageous and can adapt to different environments and needs to complete a variety of tasks.
Zheshang Securities believes that Tesla Optimus, as a pioneer of embodied intelligence, is expected to be the first to enter the mass production stage. Domestic manufacturers continue to iterate in the body structure, motion control algorithms, software engineering, etc. of humanoid robots, and actively explore downstream industrialization application scenarios. Planetary roller screws, six-dimensional torque sensors, tactile sensors, hollow cup motors, and software systems are the core links with large room for improvement in localization, and they are also components with high technical barriers.