China has just unveiled a new series of super-special robot “warriors.” The most notable is MAHAKBOT a six-armed robot that can simultaneously deliver components, connect cables, tighten screws, and assemble on the same assembly line thanks to an “AI brain” that assigns tasks to each arm.
The machines were showcased at the launch event of China Media Group’s (CMG) first intelligent robot application skills exhibition, which highlighted a shift in robotics sector from technology demonstrations to deployment on production and maintenance front lines.
The MAHAKBOT, is a hexa-armed embodied-intelligence robot developed by Shanghai-based iSAGEBOT. Guided by what the company calls a process-aware brain, it allocates its six arms according to the production line it serves, simultaneously handling loading and unloading, cable plugging and screw assembly with extremely fine precision, and it can take over jobs that expose workers to hazardous conditions.
“The world is tailor-made for humans,” the company said, explaining that the robot keeps roughly human height while the extra range covers scenarios where that falls short. The machine offers up to 120 degrees of freedom body-wide when all end effectors are dexterous hands, and uses seven-axis force-controlled arms that combine rigidity with precision. Target applications span automotive and auto parts manufacturing, 3C electronics and the energy and power sector, the company said.
What sets the MAHAKBOT robot apart, is a heterogeneous spatial layout that gives each arm its own interference-free working envelope, the company told the Global Times. The arms can be grouped in multiple configurations – four to the front, four to the rear, three to each side, or two above and four below – to achieve collaboration across the full working space. A telescoping lift structure adds 300 millimeters of vertical adjustment.
Liu Dingding, a veteran tech industry analyst, told the Global Times on Tuesday. The fundamental reason, the expert said, is that robots can now perform concrete work in specific scenarios.
In vehicle and new-energy manufacturing, some production chains now operate with almost no workers on the floor, relying on robotic arms, automated forklifts and material handling equipment, the expert said. On the consumer side, coffee-making robots and household machines are entering small-scale validation. Two humanoid robot marathons held over the past two years showed the industry that robots can reach into everyday work and life, Liu added.
Also on display is China’s first embodied-intelligence special-operations robot, which combines humanoid dual arms, magnetic wall-climbing capability and large-model intelligence. It can grind with one hand while welding with the other on the exterior walls of chemical storage tanks, ships and energy facilities, with operators wearing virtual reality goggles and holding a remote-control device to carry out high-risk tasks from a safe distance.
The “Antelope” robot specializes in high-voltage electrical maintenance, while the “Dragon” robot can reach up to 10-meter power lines without cutting off the power. The aim is to remove humans from dangerous environments.
China’s robotics industry is booming: for the first time, industrial robot exports exceed imports, covering 253 industries, and its domestic market share surpasses 60%.
Domestic-brand industrial robots are now used across 253 sub-categories of China’s national industrial classification system, a coverage rate that has risen by 12 percentage points over the past five years, said Song Xiaogang, secretary-general of the federation. Sales of domestic brands in the Chinese market have grown at an average annual rate of 29 percent over that period, taking a market share of more than 60 percent, with nearly 1 million units entering industrial use during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period.
