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Shenzhen-based robotics company Dobot has unveiled a lifelike robotic recreation of Sinosauropteryx – a small, feathered dinosaur that lived around 130 million years ago – in its latest push to broaden commercial applications of robotics beyond humanoid forms. The company said in a statement on Monday that the machine, powered by multimodal interaction, environmental perception and motion-control technologies, could “walk, breathe, emit low murmurs and interact intelligently with its surroundings and visitors”. The Hong Kong-listed company said the device was aimed at tourism and education markets, such as museums, classrooms and theme parks. Dobot was drawn to the Sinosauropteryx, discovered in 1996 in Chaoyang, Liaoning province, as its first model because of its significance as the first feathered dinosaur fossil ever found. The company plans to reuse the same robotic core to create other ancient, mythological or cultural figures simply by changing the exterior “skin” and appearance. It did not disclose pricing or orders for the new model. The initiative highlights how China’s robotics industry is seeking to diversify its applications and generate new revenue streams beyond industrial use. While most large-scale deployments so far have been confined to manufacturing and logistics, companies are now testing the commercial potential of robots in consumer-facing sectors such as tourism, education and entertainment. So far, however, most large orders have continued to come from manufacturing. Earlier this month, Shenzhen-based UBTech announced contracts worth a total of 158 million (US$22.25 million) for its humanoid Walker S2 robots, which will be deployed for data collection and automobile production. Shanghai’s AgiBot said in August it would deploy nearly 100 Yuangzheng A2-W humanoid robots to the production lines of Fulin Precision, a major auto-parts supplier to BYD, Volkswagen and Toyota. In June, AgiBot and Unitree Robotics secured a combined 124 million yuan in orders from China Mobile. China remains the world’s largest robot producer, making 556,000 industrial robots and 10.5 million service units in 2024, up 14 and 16 per cent respectively, according to official data. Dobot, which started out making robotic arms, reported first-half revenue of 153 million yuan, up 27 per cent from the previous year, while narrowing its losses by nearly a third to 41 million yuan, primarily thanks to “the significant growth in revenue from our six-axis cobot products”. Six-axis cobots - short for collaborative robot - are articulated mechanical arms with six independent joints, giving them human-arm-like dexterity. This flexibility makes them suitable for precision assembly, handling and inspection tasks across a wide range of industries, from electronics to logistics. Dobot entered the humanoid segment in March with its Atom model.
