20 hours Ago By Georgie English
EERIE robot workers are beginning to take over at the world's biggest electric car maker. Chinese motors giant BYD Auto have implemented a creepy 500-strong robot workforce with fears growing that the programmed bots could soon fill up millions of vacant job roles. Fascinating footage shows a number of humanoid robots dubbed "Walker S1" parading around factories in China.
The army of bots can be seen inspecting BYD cars as they are being built and carrying heavy boxes around the giant warehouses - with no humans in sight. Chinese industrial giant UBTech has designed the robots to specialise in manual labour so they can be used in the workplace. UBTech has already received over 500 orders for the humanoids, reports Interesting Engineering .
read more in robots With the major robot roll-out set to fix China’s manufacturing labour shortage. Car-making companies in the Far East are projected to face a worrying shortage of around 30 million workers by 2025, according to a 2017 report by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security . Meaning many feel the introduction of robots will be a quick fix to the ever-growing problem as they can be programmed to work in the huge warehouses.
Many global companies are also looking to streamline their operations by introducing a robotic workforce. Most read in Tech They hope to see a more efficient workday which is affected much less by human error, injuries and even days off. UBTech - China's leading robot manufacturers - are said to be looking to reduce human labour in factories to just 10 per cent in the future .
UBTech’s chief brand officer, Tan Min, says this will allow humans to focus on the more difficult tasks such as planning, collaboration and tool management. Inside the Walker S1 robots The UBTech Walker S1 is the latest humanoid robot to be unveiled in recent years. Designed to replace people in manual labour workplaces the bots stand at an impressive 5ft 6in and weigh a hefty 76kg.
Each one is designed to handle a number of tasks typically undertaken inside a factory. This includes visual quality inspections, carrying heavy equipment, tightening screws and even assembling and sorting. Prototype footage released by UBTech shows the robots carrying 16.
3kg boxes on a treadmill. Other eerie clips demonstrate how they can bend over and grab onto shipments before transporting them across buildings. They are programmed to understand the intention behind various tasks and have the correct set up to carry them out efficiently.
Along with the 500 bots shipped to BYD, the Walker S1 tech has also been ordered by state-owned Dongfeng Motor, FAW-Volkswagen, and Geely. UBTech is the first company in the world to launch mass-scale robot operations, say South China Morning Post. They hope to have a successful run inside Chinese warehouses before taking the robot workforce global in a few years time.
Elon Musk is also vying to be the first to crack global robot workers through his creepy faceless Optimus bots . The tech billionaire is due to unleash the humanoids into his Tesla factories next year before they're made available to other companies in 2026. Musk boasts that they can do almost anything including babysit children, walk a dog, mow lawns, get the groceries or be a friend.
In footage shared online, the faceless bot, dubbed an "autonomous assistant" or a "humanoid friend" by Tesla, can be seen picking up a parcel at the doorstep. Before going on to water plants as a human family enjoys their time together. READ MORE SUN STORIES It can then be seen joining in on the fun and playing games with a dad and his children before it goes on to help mum in the kitchen.
They have been labelled "personal R2-D2 [or] C3-PO's"..
