Zhi DongXi (public number: zhidxcom)
Author | Li Shuiqing
Edit | Heart edge
Zhidong reported on March 24 that today, Purdue Technology held the 2022 spring new product launch conference in Shenzhen, launching four robot products of "Qiaole Delivery", PUDU A1, PIDU D1, and PUDU SH1. These robots are either equipped with robotic arms, or "transform" into four-legged food delivery robots, or add "phantoms" that show their driving intentions. They include almost all the technical hot words in the robot circle, refreshing the existing food delivery robot product form on the market.
Purdue Technology was founded in Shenzhen in 2016, focusing on intelligent service robots, and is one of the most widely landed enterprises in China. In September 2021, Purdue Technology announced the completion of nearly 1 billion yuan of C1 and C2 rounds of financing, including Meituan, Shenzhen Investment Holding Capital, Sequoia China and so on.
At the press conference, Zhang Tao, founder and CEO of Purdue Technology, admitted that the current catering robots are facing three mountains, including peak passability, full-process automation, and low-ground passability. These three mountains have deeply affected the industry penetration of food delivery robots to a very high level, and Purdue's new products launched today will focus on solving these pain points.
▲Zhang Tao, founder and CEO of Purdue Technology
First, install the "phantom" for the robot to solve the problem of distribution during peak periods
At the peak of restaurant dining, peer conflict between robots and humans becomes a key point of contradiction. When entering a restaurant is blocked by robots, people often feel that the dining experience is greatly reduced.
To this end, Purdue launched a robot product called "Qiaole Send". Just like the car visualizes the intention of the car through the headlights, "Qiaole Send" also adds a laser projection to the robot, allowing the robot to visualize the walking intention, so that people can understand it and avoid it.
At the same time, engineers also installed "rearview mirrors" for the robot. Through backward perception, robots can make way for people. It is able to reverse autonomously, wait at three forks, and avoid sideways. When it feels like there is someone behind, it can avoid the person behind it through wide-area perception ability. In addition, it can also take the ladder autonomously and distribute across floors.
Through the in-depth optimization of the peak period algorithm, Purdue wants to build Qiaole Delivery into an "old driver" of 5S delivery. Specifically, 5S means that this robot can reduce the aisle blockage rate by 50%, improve the overall smoothness of operation by 20%, have the recognition algorithm of special groups such as the elderly and children, support multi-modal interaction, and it also has social functions.
Available in both closed cabin and open versions, qiaole delivery is expected to debut in May 2022, with a release date of July 2022 and a ladder version in September 2022.
Second, the food delivery robot has a mechanical arm to support the whole process of automatic distribution
In the past robot development process, unmanned delivery robots have been able to cover many kilometers, but it is difficult to solve the "last kilometer" problem. We see that in scenes such as restaurant outlets and table dishes, robots often need human assistance, as if they are not so intelligent.
To this end, Purdue launched a food delivery robot with a robotic arm called the "PUDU A1". Through self-developed vision technology, PUDU A1 can refresh the grasp target position in real time, eye combination, flexible pick and place dishes. It is reported that PUDU A1 is equipped with a vehicle-grade chassis, equipped with a self-developed robotic arm, SLAM algorithm, supports flexible dishing, and has triple safety protection.
However, at present, PUDU A1 is only sold on a small scale, and it is said that Purdue will launch PUDU A2 in the second half of the year, and it will be sold on a large scale.
Three- and four-legged food delivery robots are coming, expanding category application scenarios
With the boom of quadruped robots in China in recent years, Purdue has also launched a four-legged food delivery robot called "PIDU D1". The robot is able to solve the problem of automated and flexible distribution in low, narrow environments. PIDU D1 is available in both distribution and universal editions, with pre-sales starting today.
Zhang Tao said that the PIDU D1 is equipped with five depth cameras, a lidar, and a high dynamic balance algorithm that can maintain an interactive balance with the environment. Whether it is slopes, steps, meadows, or stone roads, it can adapt to complex terrain at any time through a biomimetic and supple gait. Equipped with a gimbal delivery box, it also faces the slope and keeps the dishes in the box level.
According to the parameter table, PIDU D1 large and small leg length 27cm + 27cm, maximum climb 25 °, maximum torque 52.6N·m, maximum speed 260rpm, communication mode CAN-FD, distribution speed 0.3 ~ 2m / s, maximum load 10kg, can last 3 hours.
Zhang Tao believes that this four-legged food delivery robot redefines the delivery boundary of robots. Many area robots are difficult to run, but the PIDU D1 has all-terrain delivery capabilities, which is expected to increase the adaptability of restaurant scenes from 30% to 70%.
Fourth, from the restaurant to other scenes, Purdue launched a floor washing robot
The PUDU SH1 professional miniature digital scrubber is the fourth and final purdue product released today. In addition to restaurants, PUDU SH1 can also be used in office buildings, schools, hospitals and other fields. This product also started pre-sale today.
Zhang Tao said that PUDU SH1 has an ultra-high-speed brushless motor, which can provide 8000Pa strong suction, 22kg to the ground pressure, and the stained sewage is clean as soon as it is sucked, that is, washed and dried. It has multiple cleaning modes, supporting standard floor washing, single suction, water brush, single brush, light stain light washing, heavy pollution heavy washing, a variety of cleaning modes, light stains and heavy stains have their own responses.
PUDU SH1 supports two-handed/one-handed operation, facing the transition needs of the restaurant scene, "one step and one pull, flexible storage". It can also enter 40cm narrow lanes and low spaces below 10cm; the device connection APP can see the cleanliness and support multi-store intelligent management.
Conclusion: The ingenuity of the food delivery robot will be tested by the market
At present, catering robots have been promoted from first-tier cities to second- and third-tier cities. As the scope of promotion becomes wider, food delivery robots face some new pain points. How to tell the story of catering robots in more depth, so that catering robots and people can have a more convenient and high-quality interactive experience? The four new products launched by Purdue Robot have brought new products and new ways to play.
The favor of capital has made these star start-ups glorious, and it also requires them to continue to bring surprises to the market when the food delivery robot category is no longer so novel. Are these new products based on in-depth market practice experience and ingenuity? Or a permutation of popular technologies? In any case, it will be tested by the market.
Intelligent robots have gradually entered our lives, and technology and the industry are still exploring and advancing. It can be seen that the intelligent robot represented by Purdue Technology is stepping out of the initial catering scene and entering all walks of life such as hospitals, banks, government affairs halls, hotels, and Internet cafes, broadening their boundaries.