If you had talked to anyone about sweeping robots 10 years ago, people who hadn't used it would have been amazed at this new species. Most of the people who have used it will share with you various funny events in the home of this "machine", and after using it a few times, this high-tech product may soon become a gray-eating artifact.
In the past five years, consumers' experience and cognition of sweeping robots is undergoing tremendous changes, especially after the continuous maturity of map navigation technology, obstacle avoidance technology, and cleaning technology. Sweeping robots have gradually transformed from chicken rib tools cloaked in advanced vocabulary and technological aura to high-quality solutions that can effectively help users clean the ground and reduce the burden of daily chores.
The secret to making the sweeping robot from "useless" to "useful" is technological innovation, in the last round of technological innovation, the sweeping robot began to learn how to avoid obstacles, how to build maps and navigation autonomously, so what will be the theme of the next round of technological revolution?
As the manager of Coworth, the head player of domestic home service robots, Qian Cheng, CEO of Coworth Robot, gave his answer: "Home service robots will enter the 3.0 era, and this iteration will be a comprehensive breakthrough in functionality, intelligence and interactivity." ”
<h2>Technology is the key to Coworth's "windbreaking"</h2>
The development of the sweeping robot industry has always been closely linked to technological developments in cleaning, sensors, algorithms and interactions.
Early products mostly use random cleaning methods, for the entire cleaning environment lack of high-precision carriers such as digital maps, when Coworth will LDS-SLAM (laser navigation) and VSLAM (visual navigation) technology to achieve large-scale commercial landing, only to really make the use of sweeping robot experience has a qualitative leap. Coworth has also become the only company in the industry with the ability to simultaneously lay out the dual technology routes of VSLAM and LDS-SLAM.
Improving the experience of building map navigation is only a step in the evolution of sweeping robots, and then Coworth pioneered the 3D-drive three-dimensional cleaning system, AIVI artificial intelligence and visual recognition technology, high-frequency vibration floor wiping system, 3D structured light obstacle avoidance technology, Coworth has been innovating in the core technology of sweeping robots, and has always been at the forefront of new technology research and development.
As Qian Cheng said: "Since 2009, When Coworth launched the first sweeping robot Dibao, we have more than ten years of research and development experience in the field of sweeping robots, whether it is a summary of past technology or the technical planning of future products, there has been a clear development route, which is very different from many enterprises that have entered the industry in the past two years." ”
At the same time, Coworth did not deliberately create barriers because of its technological leadership, if you find an appropriate analogy, it is more like the "wind breaker" at the front of the team in the road bicycle race, pointing out the direction for the development path of the entire industry through its own technical exploration ability.
According to its latest financial report data, in the first half of 2021, Coworth's R&D expenditure reached 202 million yuan, an increase of 45.8% over the same period last year.
After years of investment and accumulation, Coworth has also possessed a comprehensive and complete self-development capability in the core components of intelligent hardware such as high-precision sensors, modules, and high-performance motors. In addition to the industry-leading amount of investment, Coworth's "efficiency first" investment strategy in technology research and development is also different from other players in the industry.
"In terms of technology research and development, Coworth values the efficiency of research and development, especially for the current market environment, as the supply chain system of many links is approaching maturity, companies must understand which technologies are the most efficient to invest in." For example, Coworth focuses on product algorithms, sensor technology and structural design innovations, because these can more directly solve the new needs of users, and are also the most difficult technical points in the entire field. Qian Cheng said.
<h2>How to define the era of home service robots 3.0</h2>
The rapid pull of Coworth's technology in the field of sweeping robots has attracted more and more followers, and the threshold of some traditional technologies in the industry is constantly decreasing, such as laser navigation, sweeping and dragging integration and other technologies and functions are becoming more and more common. In contrast, the dividend period of technology is often quickly erased at this time, and when the mainstream product technology in the market gradually pulls to the same running line, the industry will inevitably fall into the quagmire of lack of innovation and price war.
In the face of such a situation, Coworth chose to race with technology, according to Qian Cheng: "The single sweep, random collision and mechanical interaction of the sweeping robot is the 1.0 era of technology; in recent years, the global planning technology, the integration of sweeping and dragging and the interaction of mobile phone APP are the 2.0 era; when many companies have just entered the 2.0 era, Coworth has opened the 3.0 era, and has made a comprehensive breakthrough in the functionality, intelligence and interactivity of the product." ”
Specifically, the 3.0 era of sweeping robots is to use technology to solve the remaining pain points of intelligence, interaction and cleaning in the experience of sweeping robots. Qian Cheng said: "For example, AIVI 3D technology, which integrates laser sensing technology and visual sensing technology, not only can absorb the advantages of two different technologies, but also brings a new 3D map, so that the sweeping robot's perception of the home environment is not only a plan of the route, but also a three-dimensional map with three-dimensional information about the family." ”
In addition, including the newly designed all-round base station system, it can solve the cleaning problem of the whole process of sweeping and dragging robot at one time, and the user does not need to pay attention to the dust box, cleaning and drying mop, sterilization and other additional work as in the past, and can complete all the cleaning and maintenance work through one base station.
In addition to the upgrade of the cleaning experience, Coworth has also introduced natural voice interaction into home service robot products for the first time, and the YIKO voice assistant can achieve natural communication and all-round control with people.
For example, in practical applications, the traditional sweeping robot itself does not have the ability to interact with voice, and needs to use the entrance of mobile phone APP or smart speaker, and basically can only realize the basic control of starting and ending cleaning.
Cobos's new Dibao X1 can achieve a real-time, comprehensive voice interaction experience, users can communicate directly with the sweeping robot, whether it is cleaning settings, or accurate local cleaning and dispatch cleaning, can be directly completed through voice control.
There is no doubt that cleaning experience, intelligent experience, interactive experience, these three aspects will be the key to the future development of the sweeping robot industry, and for Cobos, as the first brand to propose the concept of the industry 3.0 era, Coworth is to define the industry 3.0 era with real products.
In the era of industry 3.0, robots will further get rid of the experience of human intervention, and move from the past "man-machine combination to complete cleaning" to robots "complete cleaning completely autonomously". After three rounds of technological revolution, it can be seen that Coworth has taken the lead in building the sweeping robot into a product with the ability and experience of "full-link automation", which is also the biggest innovation in the 3.0 era.
<h2>"Robotization penetrates into the whole scene" has become a new fulcrum for leveraging the industry</h2>
In China, when it comes to Coworth, many people will naturally think of sweeping robots. In fact, In 2009, Coworth proposed the "Home Service Robot Blue Ocean Strategy" and began to build more robot categories, and in recent years, Coworth has begun the research and development of commercial service robot products. It can be said that Coworth has not only gone deeper, but also more extensively in the field of service robots.
Coworth has also demonstrated with the growing robot category that in addition to sweeping robots, Coworth can push robotics into more scenes in the home and business. From the market recognition and consumer love it has received, it can be seen that Coworth has explored some new areas, such as air purification robots, window cleaning robots and so on.
In addition, in the past two years, Coworth commercial service robots have also achieved great growth. Qian Cheng also mentioned, "Coworth will next layout the robot category very diversely, as long as the user has a real need, Cobos will provide them with solutions." ”
From the recently released financial report, Coworth's exploration of multiple categories of robots has achieved results, in 2021, air purification robots and window cleaning robots, began to become a new driving force for the growth of Coworth, in the first half of this year, mobile air purification robot Qinbao and window cleaning robot window treasure performance is eye-catching, the two major product line revenue accounted for 11.2% of the company's domestic service robot revenue.
Returning to the field of sweeping robots, an obvious trend in the industry is high-end, from the perspective of the overall development trend of the industry, the replacement and upgrading of users has become an important driving force for the market space; on the other hand, the more relaxed pricing strategy of high-end market products is also more conducive to the virtuous circle of enterprises to drive their own growth with technological innovation.
For the new categories in the home service robot track, the reason is the same, Coworth sees the needs of the market, using its own technology accumulation in the field of robotics to create a new form, but the real flashpoint of this industry is often after the "pioneers" have flattened the pit.
<h2>Not only in the global market, Chinese brands must define and lead the industry</h2>
Whether it is smart phones, cars or home appliances, China has become the most core territory in the global market, relying on the huge market consumption power and diversified market demand, many brands are based on the Chinese market, standing on the position of industry leader, including Haier, BYD, Huawei and so on.
The current development of Coworth is also at this stage, and Zhongyikang data shows that in the first half of 2021, the retail share of Coworth brand sweeping robots in the Chinese market was 46.1%, ranking first. But for Coworth, becoming the head player in the market is only a small step on the development route, and its ultimate vision is to become a global leading brand in the field of robotics and continue to lead the development of related industries.
To this end, Cobos has always regarded globalization as one of the important strategies of the company's operation, adhered to the long-term development of the global layout of brand and channel construction, has established the United States, Germany and Japan as the core to cover the world's major markets of the business network.
In the first half of 2021, the overseas business revenue of the Coworth brand increased by 134.8% year-on-year, accounting for 31.0% of the revenue. According to the GFK report, in the second quarter of 2021, the retail share of Coworth brand sweeping robots in the global (excluding North American) market reached 21.9%, ranking first. Overseas operations have become another important source of income for Coworth. Coworth quickly ranked first in Germany, Australia, Southeast Asia and other European markets, and its market share in Europe such as France and Italy ranked in the top three.
With highly skilled products, Coworth has accumulated a deep user base and become a new business card of China's "intelligent manufacturing" of global overseas brands. China has become the world's largest market for sweeping robots, which is not only behind the huge consumption capacity, but also because of the strong industrial development capabilities.
Of course, there is also the ability to innovate, and it can be seen that many of the product technology and functional innovations in recent years have been launched by Chinese brands, including Coworth. It can even be said that the development of global sweeping robots is to some extent led and defined by Chinese brands.
Admittedly, we are seeing such a trend in more and more industries, including sweeping robots, including new energy vehicles. Behind this, it is the epitome of China's development in the past two or three decades, and more and more Chinese companies are doing their own brands, embracing the wave of e-commerce, moving towards a broader international market, and even defining and leading in the global industry.
For Coworth, in the 23 years from its establishment to its development, it has actually been in this process, and every step has stepped on the tide of the big times. As a pioneer, windbreaker and leader in the industry, Coworth will continue to promote the development of the service robot industry. As Qian Cheng said, "The existence of Coworth is the greatest contribution to the industry."