Wuhan's robotics among top 10 in nation

A robot working at the drug store developed by Wuhan Cobot Technology Co, which is based in OVC, Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

The city of Wuhan in Central China's Hubei province has made the list of the top 10 Chinese cities in robotics, which was released recently by the China Association for Mechatronics Technology & Application.

Last month, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and another three central departments issued the typical robot application scenario list in four fields – agriculture, architecture, mining and healthcare. Three Wuhan-based companies made the list.

Among them, the robot working in the drug store developed by Wuhan Cobot Technology Co and the disinfection robot developed by Wuhan United Tech Co both originated in the East Lake High-tech Development Zone (also known as Optics Valley of China, or OVC).

Statistics show that there are a total of nearly 100 robotics companies in Hubei, and more than 40 percent of them are registered in Wuhan. About 80 percent of them focus on integrated robotics. Cobot's contactless smart drug store enjoys the largest domestic market share.

Strong in education and R&D, Wuhan boasts many local universities with high-quality robotics departments, such as Wuhan University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology. In addition, the city also has many characteristic national sci-tech research platforms, State-owned manufacturers and all kinds of innovation incubators.

According to the artificial intelligence development plan for Hubei province during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), the province will support the development of smart service robots, especially in the area of education, entertainment, healthcare, rehabilitation and elderly care.