Pudu Robotics, a prominent Chinese robotics company renowned for its service robots in the hospitality and retail sectors, has recently unveiled its latest innovation—the PUDU D9. This full-sized bipedal humanoid robot represents a significant advancement in the field of robotics, showcasing Pudu’s commitment to integrating cutting-edge technology with practical applications.

Company Background

Pudu Robotics was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, China. The company quickly rose to become a world leader in the development of commercial service robots. Products in the company’s portfolio include delivery robots such as BellaBot and KettyBot, which are intended to facilitate restaurant, hotel, and retail operations. With offices in more than 60 countries, Pudu Robotics counts among its clients some of the biggest names in the world: Marriott, Hilton, McDonald’s, and Shell.

Meet the PUDU D9

The PUDU D9 is the first-ever full-sized bipedal humanoid robot from Pudu Robotics. It measures 170 cm, or approximately 5 feet 7 inches. Weighing at approximately 143 pounds, at 65 kg, PUDU D9 represents the motto “Born to Serve,” meaning that this is a service-oriented robot.

Key Features and Specifications

• Bipedal Design: the PUDU D9 has a human-like, bipedal structure, which makes the robot very agile and capable of working in many various environments. This design also allows it to go over stairs, slopes, uneven terrains, which places it into diverse service situations.
• Degrees of Freedom (DoF): The PUDU D9 robot is designed with 42 degrees of freedom, where each arm has 7 DoF. This arrangement provides the PUDU D9 with a great degree of dexterity in terms of executing complex movements for a task.
• Payload Capacity: The PUDU D9 has an arm payload capacity of 20 kg (approximately 44 pounds), meaning it can carry and move all kinds of objects, which is critical for service applications in hospitality, healthcare, and retail sectors.
• Dexterous Hand (DH11): The robot integrates Pudu’s DH11 dexterous hand, which allows for 11 degrees of freedom. This advanced design enables the PUDU D9 to execute tasks of precision and fine motor tasks, such as picking tiny objects or operating machinery.
• Mobility and Speed: The PUDU D9 can walk at a pace of 2 meters per second (approximately 4.5 miles per hour), matching the speed of a human’s brisk walk or slow jog. This mobility ensures efficient task execution and seamless integration into human-centric environments.
• Navigation System: Equipped with an advanced 3D semantic mapping system, PUDU D9 is able to perceive and understand its surroundings. This helps the robot navigate through complicated environments, avoid obstacles, and safely interact with people.

Applications and Use Cases

Pudu Robotics has planned for the PUDU D9 to be used in many industries, including the following:

• Hospitality: Assist with guest services, deliver items, and provide information to improve customer experience in hotels and restaurants.
• Healthcare: Aiding health professionals with supplying goods and products and other everyday functions to promote operational flow within hospitals and clinics.
• Retail: Facilitating consumer-customer engagement, stock, and the whole sale transactions to enable retail outlet functionality.
• Cleaning Services: Engaging in various environmental cleanliness, striving to reach excellent standards on hygiene and sanitation.

Technological Inventions

Creating the PUDU D9 came along with numerous technological breakthroughs:

• Advanced Robotics Engineering: The bipedal design and high degrees of freedom required sophisticated engineering to ensure balance, agility, and dexterity.
• Artificial Intelligence Integration: The robot’s ability to navigate and interact with its environment relies on advanced AI algorithms for perception, decision-making, and learning.
• Human-Robot Interaction (HRI): Designing the PUDU D9 to interact naturally and safely with humans involved extensive research in HRI, focusing on communication, behavior, and user experience.

Market Position and Competitive Landscape

Pudu Robotics takes a lead in the market for humanoid robotics with PUDU D9. The company has more than ten years of experience in implementing over 80,000 robots in different parts of the world, giving its entry of PUDU D9 a good and strong footing in all walks of industries.

The humanoid robotics market is becoming a more competitive space, given the number of companies coming out with robots for service applications. Combining practical functionality with Pudu Robotics’ established global presence provides a competitive advantage in delivering commercially viable humanoid robots.

Future Prospects and Developments

Pudu Robotics will further develop its research and development in order to advance the PUDU D9’s capabilities as well as find new uses for it. The company will also work on growing the market reach and collaborating with partners in order to implement humanoid robots in all aspects of life.