Propelled by the wave of technological advancement, humanoid robots are stepping into the spotlight from behind the scenes. During the 2025 CCTV Spring Festival Gala, renowned film director Zhang Yimou collaborated with Hangzhou Unitree Technology and Xinjiang Arts Institute to present a mesmerizing program titled "Yang BOT". On stage, Unitree Technology's humanoid robots danced in perfect harmony with dancers from Xinjiang Arts Institute. This captivating human-robot interaction not only offered a unique visual spectacle, showcasing the unparalleled beauty of technology, but also conveyed to the audience that the era of humanoid robots is upon us.

01 Unveiling the BOTs

The "Yang BOT" performance at the Spring Festival Gala featured 16 agile robots (BOTs) and 16 skilled dancers from Xinjiang Arts Institute. These robots are Unitree Technology's Unitree H1 "Fuxi", named after the legendary Chinese emperor. H1 is the world's first full-sized electric-powered humanoid robot capable of performing in-place somersaults. Equipped with AI-driven full-body motion control technology, high-precision 3D laser SLAM autonomous positioning and navigation, multi-agent collaborative planning, advanced networking solutions, and full-body AI motion control, H1 is a technological marvel.

The Unitree H1 humanoid robot made its debut in 2023, boasting remarkable joint flexibility and motion performance. These robots are powered by robust hardware configurations, including Intel Core i7-1265U processors, lidar, depth cameras, and other state-of-the-art sensor technologies.

To meet the rigorous demands of dance performances, these robots underwent extensive AI training and can execute precise dance moves. They also navigate the stage autonomously through the SLAM positioning system. Furthermore, Unitree Technology emphasized the design of the robots' hand movements, enabling them to throw and retrieve handkerchiefs.

H1's "secret weapon" is its AI-driven full-body motion control technology, with a maximum joint torque of 360Nm. Coupled with 360° panoramic depth perception technology, it accurately captures every movement in its surroundings. Through AI algorithms, it can "understand" music and adjust its movements in real-time according to the rhythm.

The robot's head is equipped with the lidar Helios, independently developed by Shenzhen Suteng Juchuang Technology Co., Ltd. This lidar employs advanced solid-state scanning technology, known for its high precision, high resolution, and swift response. It provides real-time three-dimensional information of the surrounding environment, offering precise data support for the robot's motion planning and obstacle avoidance. During the dance performance, the robots perceive the positions and movements of the surrounding dancers in real-time through lidar, swiftly adjusting their motion trajectories and postures to achieve seamless coordination with the dancers, presenting a breathtaking human-robot dance performance.

Founded in 2016, Hangzhou Unitree Technology is a pioneer in the field of humanoid robots and quadruped robots. Since launching its first bipedal humanoid robot in 2023, Unitree Technology has overcome significant technical challenges such as the traversability and stability of robots in complex terrains. The humanoid robots that graced the stage of the Snake Year Spring Festival Gala have 19 joints. To accomplish the movement of twirling handkerchiefs, an additional 3 joints were added to each arm, granting the robots high flexibility and precision, allowing them to perform arm rotations, throwing, retrieval, and other human-like movements.

02 China's Strategic Layout and Policy Support for the Humanoid Robot Industry

The Chinese government places significant importance on the development of the humanoid robot industry, viewing it as a vital force for economic transformation, upgrading, and technological innovation. It has enacted a series of robust policy measures to foster this growth.

In 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Guidance on the Innovative Development of Humanoid Robots", outlining that by 2025, China's humanoid robot innovation system will be initially established. By 2027, the technological innovation capability of humanoid robots will be significantly enhanced, constructing an internationally competitive industrial ecosystem with world-class comprehensive strength. This policy sets a clear direction for the development of China's humanoid robot industry and provides a solid policy foundation. Local governments have also responded by formulating specific industrial development plans and support policies tailored to local conditions.

The "Beijing Action Plan for the Innovative Development of the Robot Industry (2023-2025)" released in 2023 proposed that by 2025, the city's robot industry's innovation capability will be significantly enhanced, nurturing 100 types of high-tech, high value-added robot products and 100 types of application scenarios with national promotion value. The number of robots per 10,000 people will reach a world-leading level, forming an innovative and entrepreneurial ecosystem with concentrated innovation elements. The core revenue of the city's robot industry will exceed 30 billion yuan, creating a domestically leading and internationally advanced robot industry cluster.

The "Zhejiang Implementation Plan for the Innovative Development of the Humanoid Robot Industry (2024-2027)" issued in 2024 clarified that by 2027, the core industry scale of the humanoid robot industry will reach 20 billion yuan, and the related industry scale will reach 50 billion yuan. A collaborative layout and cluster development pattern will be basically formed, with the construction of 2 provincial pilot zones for future industries and 50 demonstration application scenarios. Substantial progress will be made in the large-scale application of iconic products in key areas.

The "Guangdong Action Plan for the Construction of a Modern Industrial System in 2025" released in February of this year also emphasized the vigorous development of embodied intelligent robots such as humanoid robots, accelerating breakthroughs in robot brains, robot limbs, robot bodies, and key core components, and actively promoting innovation in intelligent robot application scenarios. High-standard construction of the provincial embodied intelligent robot innovation center will be carried out, and 3-5 unicorn enterprises and technology-leading enterprises will be introduced and cultivated.

Additionally, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and other regions have successively announced support policies related to the robot industry to seize market development opportunities.

Industrial Cluster

Guided and supported by policies, China's humanoid robot industry alliances and funds have been established one after another, and the cluster effect is anticipated to gradually become prominent.

Beijing, Zhejiang (Ningbo), Guangdong, and other regions have successively established humanoid robot innovation centers and set up special investment funds, leveraging their strong technological prowess, complete industrial supporting facilities, and abundant human resources. These innovation centers have aggregated the advantageous resources of universities, research institutions, and enterprises, fostering a favorable pattern of collaborative innovation among industry, academia, research, and application.

In November 2023, the Beijing National-Local Collaborative Embodied Intelligent Robot Innovation Center, jointly established by leading enterprises and institutions in the robot industry such as UBTech, Beijing Jingcheng Machinery, Xiaomi Robotics, and E-Town Robotics, was officially inaugurated. This is China's first innovation center dedicated to the core technologies, product development, and application ecosystem construction of embodied intelligent robots. In October of last year, the innovation center was officially upgraded to the "National-Local Collaborative Embodied Intelligent Robot Innovation Center".

In May 2024, the National-Local Collaborative Humanoid Robot Innovation Center was unveiled in Pudong, Shanghai, marking the establishment of the first national public platform in the field of humanoid robots. The training ground can accommodate 100 humanoid robots for simultaneous intelligent training and will expand to accommodate 1,000 humanoid robots by 2027.

Enterprise Development

China's humanoid robot enterprises are experiencing rapid growth, displaying a flourishing trend. Start-ups such as UBTech, Fourier, and Zhiyuan have made significant breakthroughs in key areas such as joint servo, motion control, and artificial intelligence, leveraging their keen market insight and strong technological innovation capabilities to accumulate profound technical expertise.

UBTech focuses on the research, development, and application of humanoid robots. Its products are widely used in education, entertainment, services, and other fields. Through independently developed high-performance servo drives and advanced motion control algorithms, it achieves high-precision motion control and flexible human-robot interaction.

Fourier is dedicated to the research and production of robot core components. Its high-performance servo motors, reducers, and other products are characterized by their compact size, lightweight design, high precision, and large torque, providing robust hardware support for the development of China's humanoid robot industry.

Zhiyuan has achieved remarkable results in the integration of artificial intelligence and robots. Through advanced technologies such as deep learning and reinforcement learning, it endows robots with enhanced intelligent decision-making capabilities and autonomous learning abilities, enabling them to better adapt to complex and ever-changing work environments.

Traditional robot enterprises such as CloudMinds and DOBOT are also actively deploying in the field of humanoid robots, leveraging their advantages in technology, brand, market, and other aspects to accelerate their expansion into this domain.

CloudMinds boasts unique advantages in cloud robotics technology. By constructing a cloud brain and intelligent network, it realizes remote control and collaborative operations of robots, offering new ideas and methods for the intelligent development of humanoid robots.

DOBOT has accumulated rich experience in the field of small desktop robots. Its products are widely welcomed by the market for their high cost-effectiveness and ease of use. When deploying in the field of humanoid robots, DOBOT fully utilizes its strengths in mechanical design, manufacturing processes, and cost control to continuously launch competitive products and gradually expand its market share.

In 2024, domestic humanoid robot enterprises are vigorously competing, and the major trend of the industry in the next 20 years has been established. Domestic robot manufacturers such as UBTech, Unitree, Leju, Zhiyuan, and Fourier all released their latest models in 2024. Leading enterprises now possess the development capability of bipedal robots and have achieved significant progress in parameters such as size, degrees of freedom, and load.

03 Proving the Pudding

As humanoid robot technology continues to advance, related competitions are becoming increasingly rich and diverse. These competitions not only provide a platform for robot enterprises and research and development teams to showcase their technical prowess but also serve as an important venue for promoting technical exchanges and innovations.

On November 11, 2024, China's first embodied intelligent robot club was announced in Beijing Yizhuang. The club's inaugural competition project was also revealed: the Humanoid Robot Marathon will be held concurrently with the Yizhuang Half Marathon in 2025, inviting humanoid robots from global robot clubs to participate. "Tiangong" has confirmed its participation for next year.

Furthermore, Beijing will host the World Humanoid Robot "One Conference and One Competition" this year. "One Conference" refers to the World Humanoid Robot Games, where Beijing plans to hold main events centered on humanoid robots and peripheral events focused on human-robot interaction in August this year. The main events include track and field, football, application scenarios, and comprehensive skills. "One Competition" refers to the Robot Half Marathon, with the first humanoid robot marathon scheduled to take place in April in Beijing Yizhuang.

Some analysts believe that this year, "embodied intelligence", including humanoid robots, will continue to evolve and gradually expand from the body to the embodied brain. It is anticipated that by 2030, global demand for humanoid robots will reach 2 million units. However, it will take several years for humanoid robots to truly achieve widespread commercialization.

Let's see who claims the title of the best robot on the racecourse this year.

04 Humanoid Robots: A New Turning Point for the Semiconductor Industry

As a crucial component of intelligent service robots, humanoid robots are considered a pivotal direction for the future development of robots due to their close resemblance to human form and behavior. They are expected to ultimately fulfill the vision of replacing humans in completing various complex tasks.

Data indicates that the global market size of humanoid robots is projected to be $1.017 billion in 2024 and is anticipated to surge to $15.142 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 56.85%. Such a rapid growth rate underscores the immense potential of the humanoid robot market and will inevitably drive the rapid development of related industrial chains. As the core supporting industry of humanoid robots, the semiconductor industry stands to witness unprecedented development opportunities.

GaN Chip Benefits

Taking Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot as an illustrative example, it is equipped with 28 joint actuators, comprising 14 rotary actuators and 14 linear actuators, all primarily powered by motors. As a pivotal driving component in humanoid robots, each motor necessitates 1-2 IGBT and other power semiconductor chips for its operation. Within the confined space of robots, achieving efficient motor drive stands as a crucial factor in realizing embodied intelligence. In robot applications, motor power typically ranges from 1kW to 3kW, placing stringent demands on the current conduction capacity and low internal resistance of power devices.

In contrast to traditional silicon-based power devices, gallium nitride (GaN) chips exhibit higher electron mobility, breakdown electric field, and thermal conductivity. These attributes enable them to operate at higher frequencies and voltages while maintaining lower on-resistance and switching losses. Consequently, GaN chips offer a significant advantage in motor drive applications for humanoid robots, effectively enhancing motor efficiency and performance while minimizing energy loss and cooling requirements. As the humanoid robot market expands rapidly, the demand for GaN chips is poised to surge, ushering in new development opportunities for the GaN chip industry.

MCU Demand Increases

The movement of humanoid robots is inextricably linked to motor drives. Tesla's Optimus, for instance, possesses approximately 40 degrees of freedom, each requiring an MCU (Microcontroller Unit). A humanoid robot necessitates 30-40 MCUs to achieve precise control over its various joints, sensors, and actuators. As humanoid robots enter mass production and undergo iterative upgrades, their behavior will increasingly mirror real human movements, thereby raising the bar for MCU performance and quantity.

To facilitate more complex motion control and intelligent decision-making, humanoid robots must process vast amounts of sensor data and respond swiftly. This necessitates MCUs with higher operating speeds, larger storage capacities, and more robust real-time processing capabilities. Therefore, as humanoid robots evolve, the utilization of mid-to-high-end MCUs will continue to escalate, propelling the MCU market into incremental growth. MCU manufacturers will intensify R&D investments and continually introduce high-performance, low-power MCU products tailored to humanoid robot applications, thereby meeting market demands. Additionally, with the pervasive application of artificial intelligence technology in humanoid robots, MCUs must also possess enhanced AI processing capabilities to support algorithms such as deep learning and neural networks, fostering continuous innovation and advancement in MCU technology.

Positive for CIS

Machine vision entails the utilization of computers to emulate human visual functions, with humanoid robots constituting a significant application domain. Machine vision comprises five core components: optical imaging, image sensors, image processing, input/output, and display modules. CIS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Image Sensor) serves as the linchpin in humanoid robots, facilitating the conversion from optical signals to electrical signals and representing the most valuable component in visual sensors.

In humanoid robot applications, CIS must embody characteristics such as high resolution, low noise, high dynamic range, and rapid response to cater to the robot's need for precise perception and real-time analysis of its surroundings. For instance, during navigation, obstacle avoidance, and target recognition tasks, CIS captures image information of the environment, converts it into digital signals, and transmits it to the robot's control system for processing. As humanoid robots gain widespread adoption in logistics, healthcare, services, and other sectors, the demand for CIS will persistently rise, driving continuous innovation and advancement in CIS technology.

MEMS Pressure Sensors and IMUs Will Also Benefit

Apart from the aforementioned semiconductor devices, MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) pressure sensors and IMUs (Inertial Measurement Units) play pivotal roles in humanoid robots. MEMS pressure sensors measure pressure variations in the robot's environment, providing crucial data for motion control and environmental perception. For example, during locomotion, by sensing ground pressure distribution, the robot adjusts its posture and steps to maintain stability. IMUs primarily measure physical quantities like acceleration, angular velocity, and magnetic field, monitoring the robot's motion state and posture changes in real-time. Through data analysis and processing, the robot achieves precise positioning, navigation, and motion control. During complex movements, the IMU promptly feeds back posture information, assisting the control system in making adjustments to ensure movement accuracy and smoothness.

With the humanoid robot market's expansion, the demand for MEMS pressure sensors and IMUs will continue to climb, presenting new development opportunities for related enterprises. As an advanced micro-nano manufacturing technology, MEMS technology boasts advantages such as small size, light weight, low power consumption, and cost-effectiveness, aligning with the requirements for sensor miniaturization and integration in humanoid robots. Leading semiconductor manufacturers have increased R&D investments in MEMS pressure sensors and IMUs, consistently introducing products with enhanced performance and reliability to meet the growing needs of the humanoid robot market. Concurrently, with AI technology's application in the sensor domain, MEMS pressure sensors and IMUs will exhibit stronger intelligent perception and data analysis capabilities, providing robots with more accurate and comprehensive environmental and motion state information.

From its striking debut on the Spring Festival Gala stage to robust industrial policy support, fierce market competition, and its profound impact on the semiconductor industry, humanoid robots are seamlessly integrating into our lives at an astonishing pace, reshaping our vision of the future. In the foreseeable future, humanoid robots are anticipated to permeate diverse fields like healthcare, household services, industrial production, emergency rescue, and more, emerging as a pivotal force driving social development and progress. With ongoing technological advancements and gradual cost reductions, it is conceivable that humanoid robots will truly permeate households, heralding a new era of intelligence. This journey necessitates the concerted efforts of governments, enterprises, research institutions, and other stakeholders to fortify technological innovation, broaden application scenarios, refine the industrial ecosystem, and cultivate a more conducive environment for the growth of humanoid robots.