This is the scene described by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov in the novel “I, Robotâ€. In 2004, the novel was adapted into a Hollywood movie, which harvested more than 300 million US dollars at the box office worldwide. Although this novel describes the catastrophic consequences that may occur after the advancement of artificial intelligence and robotics. But distant sci-fi seems to make people feel a touch when Google’s AlphaGo defeated Go player Li Shishi in March of this year.
Artificial intelligence is once again hot with the success of AlphaGo. The field of robots integrating artificial intelligence technology has also become a focus of attention. Ubisoft, Horizon Robotics, ROBOO and other robotic startups have announced financing, and the timing of robotics seems to have arrived. However, the field of consumer-grade robots, which seems to be favored by capital, is actually facing difficulties.
At present, consumer-grade robots are generally in the toy stage. Because the technology is not mature enough, the product experience is not good, and the market is reflected at a low level; the hardware investment and R&D costs are too high, which also causes many startup companies to face financial pressure. At the same time, the next development direction of the robot is still not clear, "the consumer robot industry has only just reached the initial stage," said ROBOO co-founder Yin Fangming.
Robot is in the toy stage
Roboo, who was founded by Yin Fangming, is an artificial intelligence robot system company. In addition to launching a series of toy robots such as puddings and Domgy, the company is also conducting research and development of robot systems and investing in robot teams. In September of this year, ROBOO announced the acquisition of the A-round investment of 100 million U.S. dollars by the HKT Telecom and two funds.
Before taking part in the establishment of ROBOO, Yin Fangming worked in 360, was responsible for mobile assistants, and also responsible for 360 portable WiFi services. In 2014, he and his partner founded ROBOO, hoping to integrate the resources in the industry chain and provide robot companies and developers with a complete set of solutions. Founder of ROBOO in the past two years, Yin Fangming still claimed to be an Internet person. He believes that the greatest advantage of Internet users is the pursuit of user experience, while being good at resource integration, and these capabilities can be applied to robot products.
At the beginning of the 2014 ROBOO establishment, artificial intelligence has not yet been so hot. Smart robots belong only to the toys of the more niche professional enthusiasts. However, Yin Fangming and several partners unanimously believed that the robot is the next fun area after the mobile internet. Subsequently, ROBOO launched the pudding robot and achieved tens of thousands of sales.
In fact, the behind the launch of the product is not so simple. "People who have come from the Internet and made smart hardware products will encounter pits," said Yin Fangming. "Robotic products require extremely high hardware requirements. From product design to final production, every change will burn a lot of money, and the robot will also Need to interact with people, hardware and systems to be coordinated, small toy robots involve a lot of knowledge." "In order to design the appearance of the pudding robot, the team has changed at least three times."
It is not only Yin Fangming who has such feelings. Zhou Jian, founder and CEO of Ubisoft Technology, started his business in the robot field in 2008 and did not mass produce the first generation of products until 2013. In order to research and develop robots, Zhou Jian had sold his house to sell cars. The development time of only one servo motor on the robot joint exceeded one year. This smart humanoid robot company, founded in 2012, has finally come to an end. In the Spring Festival of 2016, the two robots collectively danced on the stage of the Spring Festival Evening and it caused concern in the industry. At the end of July this year, Ubiquitous Technology announced that it had completed a round of 100 million U.S. dollars financing in B, with a valuation of one billion U.S. dollars.
In addition to ROBOO and Ubiquitous, the number of startup companies currently serving the robotics field is numerous. However, due to technical difficulties and hardware barriers, there are only a few competitors in the field of robotics. At the same time, robots can only be simple pets or humanoids, and the functions are mostly toys and simple companionship.