At a time when science and technology are developing rapidly, the robotics industry is undergoing profound changes, especially in the field of humanoid robots, which has become the focus of global technological innovation. Humanoid robots, as the crystallization of the deep integration of artificial intelligence and robotics technology, are gradually moving from science fiction to real life with their characteristics of simulating human appearance, posture and movements.
Global Industry Situation: Fierce Competition Among The Heroes
From a global perspective, the humanoid robot industry has developed into an important sub-sector with a high degree of scientific and technological innovation results. In recent years, major global technology companies have made layouts in this field, either investing in related startups or personally carrying out research and development work. A fierce competition is unfolding around the world. According to the “Humanoid Machine Industry Development Research Report" published in 2024, American technology companies such as Tesla, Figure AI, and Boston Dynamics have successfully entered the first echelon of global humanoid robot complete machine products with their leading technology and products; humanoid robot products of companies such as 1X Technology and Digit have also performed well and are in the second echelon. These companies continue to make efforts in technology research and development, product innovation and market promotion, driving the continuous development of the humanoid robot industry.
Currently, the global humanoid robot industry is in the early stages of commercialization. According to the degree of intelligence, humanoid robots can be divided into six levels from L0 to L5. At this stage, the overall products are in the transition stage from L3 to L4. Some of the world's leading products have begun real-life application testing, but most products are still in the research and development verification stage. At the same time, the industrial chain of humanoid robots has been initially built: the upstream covers the supply links such as the body structure, servo drive, intelligent perception, drive control and support environment; the midstream is the integration of humanoid robot products; and the downstream is a wide range of application fields. Against the backdrop of the slowing global population growth, the increasing aging level and the accelerated upgrading of the manufacturing industry, humanoid robots have become a new highland for global technological competition, a new track for future industries and a new engine for economic development. Major economies around the world are actively engaged in the humanoid robot industry and are making every effort to seize market opportunities. The United States has been in the field of humanoid robot technology for a long time, with a complete R&D system and deep technical accumulation. In addition, the government has introduced policies and vigorously funded it, and it currently occupies a leading position in the field. Europe, as the second largest market in the world in terms of the number of industrial robots installed, has a technological development advantage. Japan, as the pioneer of the humanoid robot track, has strong core competitiveness. Although China started late in this field, it has developed very rapidly. The government has fully supported the development of the humanoid robot industry by issuing policies and releasing projects.
The global humanoid robot technology innovation has been continuously strengthened, which has strongly promoted the accelerated development of the industry. Since 2018, the number of global invention patent applications has remained stable. From the perspective of the technology life cycle, the current global humanoid robot industry technology is in the growth stage as a whole. From the perspective of the application source, humanoid robot invention patent applications are mainly concentrated in major global economies such as China, the United States, Europe, and Japan. China ranks first in the world with 6,768 applications, accounting for 43.2% of the global total, with a significant quantitative advantage; the United States and Japan follow closely, with the United States applying for 2,323 applications (accounting for 14.8% of the world) and Japan applying for 2,271 applications (accounting for 14.5%), with a very small gap between the two. However, in terms of the number of highly cited patents, Japan and the United States have obvious advantages, both exceeding twice that of China. From the perspective of technical branches and R&D directions, in the five directions of body structure, core components, intelligent perception, drive control, and support environment, China and Japan's highly cited patents are mainly concentrated in the body structure technology branch, among which Japanese patents are concentrated in the lower limb direction, and China is concentrated in the joint direction; the distribution of highly cited patents in the United States is relatively balanced, with layouts in core components and intelligent perception branches; Europe's highly cited patents are concentrated in the two technical branches of intelligent perception and drive control. From the perspective of absolute value scale, China's number of highly cited patents in the two major technical branches of intelligent perception and drive control is still far behind that of Europe, the United States, and Japan, and needs to be further improved.
