The National and Local Co-built Embodied Artificial Intelligence Robotics Innovation Center on Monday launched the open-source initiative for "Tiangong", the world's first full-size purely electric-driven humanoid robot.
This decision is anticipated to promote the secondary development of humanoid robots and expedite their integration into everyday human life.
As a key platform driving breakthroughs in intelligent technology and industrial collaboration, the innovation center is currently accelerating advancements in the "Tiangong" humanoid robot, a domestically-developed platform. Additionally, it is focusing on the development of the whole-body collaborative intelligent cerebellum platform and the multifunctional intelligent body platform, "Kaiwu."
"Tiangong" boasts an average speed of 10 kilometers per hour and can reach a top speed of 12 kilometers per hour, setting a benchmark in its class. It is capable of navigating various terrains with ease, including slopes, stairs, grass, gravel, and sand.
Following the official launch of the open-source initiative for Tiangong, the innovation center will collaborate with universities, research institutes, integrators, and other organizations worldwide that possess secondary development capabilities in humanoid robotics. Together, they aim to create the most influential intelligent open-source community.
China launches open-source initiative for "Tiangong" humanoid robot
A new chapter has been opened in the decades-old campaign of fighting desertification in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as the 3,046-km green belt encircling the Taklimakan Desert in the region was completed on November 28, 2024.
The Taklimakan Desert, once known as the "sea of death," covers 337,600 square kilometers and its circumference measures 3,046 km, making it the largest desert in China and the second-largest drifting desert in the world.
It has taken more than 40 years to fully enclose the desert with a green belt. This incredible achievement is part of China's Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, the world's largest afforestation initiative. The program was launched in 1978 and is scheduled to be completed by 2050.
Xinjiang's commitment to fighting desertification did not waver following the green belt's completion. Instead, the region is continuing to expand and fortify the belt to achieve broader ecological management objectives.
Despite subzero temperatures and recent snowfall, the relentless work at the sand control site persists.
In Yutian County on the edge of the Taklimakan Desert, workers are busy leveling a 530-hectare piece of sandy land for the forthcoming ecological conservation endeavors.
"It's been almost a month, and we'll work for another three or four days, and then we'll have leveled it out here," said a bulldozer driver working on-site.
In Luopu County also on the edge of the Taklimakan Desert, workers are preparing red willow branches in nurseries for planting across more than 400 hectares of desert in the coming spring. Indigenous sand-fixing plants like sacsaoul and red willow are poised to assume important roles in fighting desertification the upcoming year.
The green belt surrounding the Taklimakan Desert not only emphasizes ecological conservation but also highlights economic progress. Through photovoltaic projects, the region is pioneering a novel ecological management strategy aimed at achieving dual objectives of environmental preservation and economic prosperity. This approach not only aids in fighting desertification, but also promises economic benefits, propelling sustainable development in the area.
Presently, the construction of a photovoltaic project within the Taklimakan Desert is busy underway, with workers installing solar panels. By spring, sand fixing plants like alfalfa and Chinese fountain grass will be planted below these panels, making the project a good example for the exploration of a new win-win model of ecological governance and economic development in Xinjiang.
Xinjiang opens new chapter in fighting desertification
