Tiangong, the world’s first full-size, purely electric humanoid robot capable of running, has officially gone open source, signaling a major leap forward in the field of robotics. This move is intended to foster secondary development, accelerate the integration of humanoid robots into daily life, and encourage broader collaboration in the robotics community.

Developed by the state-supported Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, Tiangong is a versatile and highly capable robot that can maintain a steady pace of 3.73 miles per hour (6 kilometers per hour). The robot was unveiled in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area in 2024, where it has already been deployed for practical tasks like power plant patrols and warehouse pick-and-place operations.

China has made it clear that humanoid robotics is a strategic priority. In November 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology revealed plans to mass-produce humanoid robots by 2025, with ambitions for these robots to be able to think, learn, and even create by 2027. To help realize this vision, the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area has become a hub for robotics innovation, with over 110 robotics businesses working to build a comprehensive industrial ecosystem.

At 163 cm tall and weighing 94.7 pounds (43 kg), Tiangong is a lightweight, highly agile robot designed to move with lifelike fluidity. Powered entirely by electricity, Tiangong’s actuators allow it to perform a wide range of movements, from walking and running to moving its arms and head. The robot’s processing speed—550 trillion operations per second—ensures that it can respond to its environment and perform complex tasks with remarkable precision.

Tiangong is equipped with a suite of advanced sensors, including high-precision six-axis force sensors for feedback on its movements and a range of visual perception systems. These sensors give Tiangong the ability to navigate and interact with its surroundings in a dynamic and adaptive way. Its running motion, in particular, benefits from cutting-edge motion learning techniques such as State Memory-based Predictive Reinforcement Imitation Learning, which helps the robot replicate the fluidity and natural motion of human runners.

In a significant step forward for the robotics field, the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center has made Tiangong’s platform open-source, allowing developers, research institutions, and enterprises to access the robot’s software and structural design documents directly. This move is expected to significantly shorten development cycles and reduce research costs, accelerating innovation in humanoid robotics.

The open-source project includes two versions of the robot: Tiangong 1.0 LITE and Tiangong Pro. Both versions come with detailed software and hardware documentation, including structural blueprints and electrical system designs. By the end of the year, the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center plans to release additional resources, including software architecture details and more comprehensive blueprints.

This open-source initiative is part of a broader strategy to foster the growth of China’s humanoid robotics sector, which is already home to notable companies like UBtech Robotics and Unitree. The center’s focus is not only on advancing the technology behind robots like Tiangong but also on solving fundamental challenges in embodied robotics, such as body mechanics and embodied intelligence.

Tiangong’s development is part of China’s ambitious plan to lead the world in humanoid robot technology. By making Tiangong open-source, the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center is encouraging global collaboration and making the technology more accessible to a wider range of innovators. This move is expected to significantly accelerate the integration of humanoid robots into a variety of industries, from manufacturing and logistics to healthcare and education.

The ultimate goal for China’s humanoid robotics efforts is to create robots that are not only capable of performing a wide range of physical tasks but also able to think, learn, and adapt in complex environments. With plans to mass-produce humanoid robots by 2025, China is positioning itself at the forefront of the global robotics revolution, and Tiangong is just the beginning of what promises to be an exciting new era in robotics.

By Impact Lab