According to Amac News: citing the Global Times, this robot was developed by the National and Local Co-built Embodied AI Robotics Innovation Center based in Beijing and is claimed to be the first full-sized humanoid robot powered entirely by electricity.
Xiong Youjun, the center's general manager, stated that the use of Tiangong is expected to facilitate the secondary development of humanoid robots and accelerate their integration into human life.
Meanwhile, Liu Yizhang, the manager responsible for Tiangong at the center, added that after being open-sourced, other companies and research institutions can directly utilize it, thus shortening the industry's development cycle and reducing research and development costs.
According to Liu, the center plans to release additional open-source structural blueprints, software architecture, and electrical systems by the end of the year.
The Tiangong robot has an average speed of 10 kilometers per hour and a maximum running speed of 12 kilometers per hour, leading in its category. It can move smoothly across various terrains, including slopes, stairs, grass, gravel, and sand.
Liu explained that many core components have been independently developed by different companies, but performance standards remain inconsistent. Open-sourcing the robot will allow development on a unified platform.
Since its official release in April 2024, Tiangong has been applied in various scenarios, including warehouse pick-and-place tasks and patrolling electrical plants.
Previously, the National Local Joint Humanoid Robot Innovation Center based in Shanghai also introduced the open-source general-purpose humanoid robot "Qinglong."