Xiaomi Humanoid Robot Completes 3-Hour Autonomous Run in Auto Factory Trial

Xiaomi’s technology team announced today that its humanoid robot has successfully completed a three-hour continuous autonomous run at a real-world automotive factory workstation, marking a key milestone in its industrial deployment efforts.

According to Xiaomi, the robot operated at a self-tapping nut loading station, achieving a 90.2% dual-side installation success rate while meeting the production line’s cycle time requirement of as fast as 76 seconds per unit.

In this task, the robot continuously retrieved self-tapping nuts from an automated feeder with high precision and placed them onto a positioning fixture for tightening. Working in coordination with a sliding conveyor and an automated self-tapping station, it enabled automated fastening of self-tapping nuts onto integrated die-cast floor components used in vehicle manufacturing.

The most technically challenging aspect lies in the installation phase. The robot must ensure precise alignment and secure contact between the nut and the locating pin shaft. Additional complexity comes from the nut’s internal spline structure, variable in-hand orientation during each grasp, and magnetic forces from the locating pin that can create pulling interference—factors that significantly increase assembly difficulty.

Xiaomi described the self-tapping nut workstation as the first step toward large-scale humanoid robot applications in automotive manufacturing. The company also revealed that deployments and validation tests are underway at multiple additional production stations, with further updates to be announced.

Source: IT Home