Ex-Robots, a robotics company based in the coastal city of Dalian, Northeast China, is striving to create lifelike robots that they hope will soon be used in healthcare and education sectors.
Ex-Robots is striving to create lifelike robots that engineers hope will soon be utilized in healthcare and education.
Ex-Robots showcased their humanoid robots at the World Robot Conference last August. The company claims that these droids embody the image of robots commonly envisioned in popular culture—with synthetic skin and realistic facial features enhanced by arm and hand movements. Ex-Robots is said to have utilized 3D scanning and digital design to create their synthetic skin and, in 2023, was recognized for producing the lightest humanoid robot in the world.
A pile of ‘weird heads’, silicon masks, and spare limbs to create the most complex robot products in the world.
Footage filmed inside the Ex-Robots factory shows workers surrounded by heaps of bizarre heads, neck-length silicon masks, and spare limbs as they work to manufacture the most complex robot products in the world. Design sketches of robots adorn the walls, while female robots wear luxurious wigs and fully made-up faces displayed along the factory floor.
Images of employees assembling humanoid robots at the Ex-Robots factory in Dalian, Liaoning province, China.
The company’s engineers create robot replicas of themselves and train them to mimic their expressions and emotions. For instance, when an Ex-Robots worker moves their head, smiles, and sticks out their tongue, a humanoid robot accurately imitates the motion. The droids utilize small motors installed in various parts of the head and artificial intelligence to recognize and replicate human behavior.
Ex-Robots opened the Future Science and Technology Museum in Liaoning province, China, in 2022. As the first domestic robot museum, it features robots using advanced technology, intelligent voice dialogue, and cognitive technology to interact directly with visitors. The museum also houses an AI robot research center, a biological robot manufacturing center, a biological experimental module, and other advanced exhibitions for visitors to explore.
“We have our own software and algorithm team. While many models and algorithms are usually open-source that everyone uses, we focus more on how to enable AI to recognize and express emotions and expressions,” revealed Ex-Robots CEO Li Boyang.
An employee working near the display of humanoid robot parts at the Ex-Robots factory.
He added that the startup, established in 2009, began developing humanoid robots in 2016. “The model we are creating is a multimodal model capable of expressing emotions. It can recognize the surrounding environment and generate appropriate facial responses,” Li Boyang further explained.
It takes 2 weeks to 1 month to produce a humanoid robot, priced between 1.5 to 2 million Renminbi.
An employee working near the display of humanoid robot parts at the Ex-Robots factory.
Ex-Robots stated that it takes between 2 weeks to 1 month to produce a humanoid robot, with prices ranging from 1.5 to 2 million Renminbi (approximately 5.2 to over 7 billion VND). The company’s primary goal thus far has been to showcase in museums, one of which Ex-Robots has placed in the same building as their factory.
