In today's automated world, production lines are being equipped with robots flexible enough to handle more complex tasks. Traditional, static, and single-task machines are gradually being replaced by smarter, multi-tasking solutions, while the rise of artificial intelligence is profoundly impacting the robotics field. In this process, humanoid robots have begun moving from laboratories to factories, and finally, a leading consumer electronics company has showcased a tangible example of this change.
Chinese company Xiaomi has announced that it has deployed its humanoid robots on an electric vehicle production line. The robot worked continuously and autonomously for three hours at an assembly station in the casting workshop of the electric vehicle factory. Shared test data shows the robot achieved a 90,2% success rate in simultaneous assembly tasks on both sides, reaching a cycle time of 76 seconds, the fastest on the production line. This performance marks a significant first step in transitioning from the lab to the real production line.
Lei Jun emphasizes that this transition is not merely a technical demonstration, but a way to simultaneously secure quality standards, efficiency targets, and production capacity. The humanoid robots used in the field are based on Xiaomi's own Robotics-0 model and incorporate the Vision-Language-Action architecture, known as VLA. The system has a multimodal perception infrastructure with haptic feedback and proprioceptive data that detects joint position, beyond visual data. This reduces the possibility of erroneous assessments in complex scenarios.
A hybrid approach has been adopted in motion control: optimization-based control algorithms solve each iteration in less than milliseconds, while reinforcement learning is trained through hundreds of millions of simulations. This combination aims to enable a control architecture that is both fast and adaptable to changing conditions. The company is also conducting tests and validation processes on different workstations besides nut assembly, such as bin-picking and pre-logo assembly, and plans to expand the project to various points on the production line.
Lei Jun stated that they aim to deploy a large number of humanoid robots in Xiaomi factories within the next five years.
