Lishui News

Current position: English > Lishui News

Serving tea and water, wiping tables, opening/closing doors, taking elevators... On the morning of October 14th, the first prototype of the "wheeled dual-arm intelligent companion elderly care robot" manufactured in Lishui was unveiled at the Hefeng Electromechanical Industrial Park, demonstrating its capabilities as a "thoughtful caregiver" to the public.

Jointly developed by Nanjing Jinqi New Energy Power Research Institute and a professor team from Southeast University over nearly a year, this elderly care companion robot marks a crucial step for Lishui in the cutting-edge technology track of embodied intelligent robots, and also provides a brand-new technological solution to address the challenges of population aging.

On-Site Coverage – This "Caregiver" Is Extraordinary

At the roadshow, the prototype robot could achieve autonomous navigation and obstacle avoidance, moving freely in a simulated home environment, with its pair of robotic arms capable of precise operations.

"Look, it can even grasp a fork accurately!" The audience exclaimed. Upon receiving a voice command, the robot gently picked up the tableware on the table with its flexible two-finger parallel gripper, turned smoothly, and delivered it to the designated position with precision.

Behind these seemingly simple movements, however, lies the sophisticated collaboration of two cameras and a computer. The cameras act as the robot's "eyes" – by fusing lidar data, they enable the robot to "see" the surrounding environment like a human; the computer serves as its "brain," quickly processing visual information, planning optimal paths and movement commands, and directing the dual arms to complete grasping and delivery tasks.

"Our biggest breakthrough is enabling the robot to truly 'understand human speech,' and introducing a vision-language multimodal large model to achieve image understanding and guide the robotic arms' movements," said Dou Jianping, project leader and associate professor at Southeast University. The team adopted the latest large language model technology to allow the robot to comprehend the daily needs of the elderly. "Although it's just a prototype now, with continuous improvement and upgrades in the future, it will soon be able to provide comprehensive services such as companionship and care for the elderly."

Behind the R&D – Making Technology Warmer

Liu Qingquan, executive director of Nanjing Jinqi New Energy Power Research Institute, stated that facing the increasingly severe trend of population aging, the traditional elderly care service system is confronting enormous challenges. The R&D of this robot is an important innovative achievement that responds to the national strategy of actively addressing population aging, integrating artificial intelligence and robot technology. After in-depth market research, the R&D team integrated multiple resources and technological advantages, ultimately choosing to enter the emerging track of embodied intelligent robots.

"From design drawings to prototypes, we only took less than a year, thanks to Lishui's high-quality innovation environment. Lishui's industrial policies and talent reserve have provided fertile ground for innovation," Liu Qingquan revealed. The next step will focus on optimizing the robot's emotional interaction system, enabling it to not only perform tasks but also perceive emotions, becoming a true "confidant companion" for the elderly.

As a new-type R&D institution jointly established by Nanjing Takasaki Electric Co., Ltd., Lishui High-Tech Industrial Investment Co., Ltd., and Southeast University, Nanjing Jinqi New Energy Power Research Institute has been committed to cutting-edge technological innovation in the fields of high-end electromechanical industry and intelligent control since its establishment. The elderly care companion robot developed this time is a vivid manifestation of its innovation strength. Through resource sharing and complementary advantages, the three parties have accelerated the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and made important explorations for specific solutions in the intelligent elderly care industry.

Currently, the prototype robot has completed the core R&D of mechanical structure, control system, etc., and possesses multiple functions such as voice chat, item delivery, and environment arrangement. It is planned that in one year, Nanjing Takasaki Electric Co., Ltd. will undertake mass production and officially launch the product on the market.