Robots Take the Lead at China’s Asian Games

China’s Asian Games, which were postponed for a year due to Covid, are set to commence on Saturday in Hangzhou. The event will witness the dominance of machines, ranging from self-operating bug zappers to robotic pianists and even driverless ice-cream trucks. With approximately 12,000 athletes and numerous journalists, technical officials, and spectators attending, the Games are expected to showcase the widespread influence of technology.

The city is the unofficial home of China’s tech industry, with robots and other wacky gadgets serving, entertaining and policing visitors.

An automated mosquito catcher roams the vast Games Village, robbing pests after luring them in by mimicking human body temperature and breathing.

Robot “dogs” that can run, jump, and flip over patrol power supplies. Smaller versions dance while a bright yellow android plays the piano.

Driverless minibuses transport visitors through the nearby city of Shaoxing, home to baseball and softball arenas.

Athletes can test their reflexes against a table tennis player playing Pongbot.

In a massive media center, a blushing plastic and metal receptionist with a numeric keypad and card slots built into her body greets customers in a makeshift bank.

The venues were built using construction robots, which the organizers say are “very cute, with unique skills”.

Summarizing China’s eagerness to push the theme of the Games, the mascots are three humanoid robots – Congcong, Lianlian and Chenchen, whose smiling faces adorn massive billboards in Hangzhou and other nearby host cities.

– Dog meets “dog” –

Hangzhou, a city of 12 million people in eastern China, has built a reputation as a home for technology companies.

This includes a booming robotics sector looking to close the gap with industry-leading rivals in countries such as the US and Japan.

At the business park, DEEP Robotics staff used their most advanced designs, commanding one four-legged bot to walk through construction debris and sending another up onto a nearby footbridge, which was in the rain.

At one point, the real dog emerges and curiously sniffs its robot counterpart.

Elsewhere, office workers pick up lunch from vending machines that can steam the food and, according to manufacturer Kuaie Fresh, check the temperature to ensure the meal is just right.

The machine also collects information about customer preferences.

In some countries, this would raise concerns about where their personal data goes and how it is used.

But at least one customer was impressed.

“Its cooking skills are better than most people who can’t cook,” said Hu, 29.

A global race to push the boundaries of artificial intelligence brought AI-powered humanoid robots to a UN summit in July, where they claimed they could eventually manage society better than humans.

And Industrial robots have sparked fears around the world that the machines could make millions of jobs obsolete.

“I wouldn’t say that robots are replacing people, but rather they are a tool, and they help people,” Qian Xiaoyu, head of DEEP Robotics, told AFP.

A thermomeasuring robot was lined up to take people’s temperatures and report if they showed signs of fever.

It can also remind visitors to wear a mask.

But the gadget is likely to remain in its toolbox after China’s ruling Communist Party abruptly scrapped its strict zero-Covid policy late last year.