Battery life has always been a major challenge for autonomous machines. But now a Shenzhen-based company has developed a humanoid robot that can swap its own batteries — no shutdown, no human help — paving the way for 24/7 operation.

UBTECH Robotics announced that its new-generation industrial humanoid robot, Walker S2, will feature an autonomous hot-swappable battery system, the first of its kind in the world. The groundbreaking technology will allow the robot to swap batteries independently in just three minutes without shutting down or manual intervention.

It can avoid interruptions caused by charging downtime, reduce manual maintenance costs, as well as improve production efficiency, laying a foundation for building "self-sustaining new quality productive forces" in intelligent manufacturing, UBTECH Robotics said.

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The Hong Kong-listed tech firm added that the technology includes a dual-battery system that ensures the machine will continue its tasks if one of the batteries fails. The robot can also independently choose between swapping and charging batteries based on task priority, achieving dynamic energy management.

UBTECH's Walker S1 robot has been used to perform precise sorting and quality inspection work in multiple automotive companies.

At BYD's Shenzhen factory, Walker S1 helped sorting efficiency increase by 120 percent, while at Lynk & Co's Chengdu factory, component storage cycle time was cut by 40 percent and labor costs were slashed by 65 percent, thanks to the combined efforts of the robot and automated guided vehicles.

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The Walker S series has been brought into the manufacturing process of 12 leading enterprises such as BYD, Geely, and Foxconn, and received orders for over 500 robots.

Zheng Yucheng contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at gabylin@chinadailyhk.com