Xiaomi Humanoid Robot Enters Automotive Assembly Line for Internship, Achieves Long-Duration Flexible Workpiece Handling

Xiaomi's humanoid robot recently began an 'internship' on the final assembly line of Xiaomi's automotive factory. Within less than six months, it achieved over 90% success rates at two workstations—sorting center console side covers and folding and recycling bins—and demonstrated continuous long-duration operation. This progress shows that Xiaomi's robot can compete with international leaders like Figure 03, despite Tesla CEO Elon Musk's earlier doubts about humanoid robots performing useful production tasks in factories.

Key Details

• Workstation 1: Center Console Side Cover Sorting

  • The robot must pick large, irregularly shaped, and flexible side covers from three rows of bins and place them into slots on a material rack.
  • When reaching for distant covers, the robot first stabilizes its center of gravity by holding the bin edge, then adjusts its full-body degrees of freedom to maintain balance.
  • After grasping, it continuously swaps the cover between hands to adjust grip and spatial orientation; before placement, it uses proprioceptive sensing from its dexterous hand for fine adjustments.
  • If a cover gets stuck, the robot autonomously adjusts its angle using an active compliance strategy based on end-effector force sensing.

• Workstation 2: Bin Folding and Recycling

  • The robot must pull open bin latches, fold bins using dual-arm coordination, and simultaneously push multiple stacked bins to a target location.
  • This involves motion coordination and cycle time matching between multiple robots, and the system now runs stably.

• System Integration

  • Xiaomi's robot is directly connected to the factory's production management system, receiving production tasks and material information without paper documents.
  • The system retains a remote intervention mechanism, allowing human operators to take over when necessary.

Industry Comparison and Significance

• Figure 03, a humanoid robot from US company Figure, achieved similar complex parts logistics sorting at a BMW factory, widely regarded as the highest level in industrial environments. Xiaomi's robot reached the same difficulty level just two weeks after Figure 03's public demonstration.
• Xiaomi's robot achieved a 98% success rate at a self-tapping nut workstation, and 90% each for center console side cover sorting and bin folding/recycling, marking a significant step from lab demonstrations to real production line productivity.
• The team will continue R&D focusing on high-degree-of-freedom dexterous hands, complex manipulation capabilities, and more workstation applications.