XPENG introduced its new robot, XPENG Iron. It is a model that amazed everyone during its debut on the catwalk, to the point that the company had to cut the external covering to demonstrate, to the most incredulous in the public, that it was really a robot and not a human being imitating its movements.
A robot who must prove that he is not human
The reaction of the public present at the event amazed the same team that developed Iron because, for the first time, a robot had to prove that it was not a human, while the Turing test is based on the opposite question.
One meter and seventy-three meters tall, XPENG Iron was able to amaze everyone with his walk and movements thanks to the imitation of human beings: there is a spine similar to oursAnd the hands have 22 degrees of freedom to enable them to use tools and utensils.
The fundamental point, to ensure that these robots become accessible, is mass production: for this reason XPENG has created hand joints that guarantee versatility and are also economical. The goal is to start production in 2026 with the first industrial applications, such as customer reception.
Xpeng Iron: a robot with a “heart”
The choice of the solid state battery, a much safer battery than those with a liquid electrode used at the moment, then confirms the intentions of the development team who want to create an emotional connection between humans and robots. In order for this connection to be created, proximity between robots and humans, their coexistence, is necessary. And this is precisely the reason why a humanoid shape and a more expensive battery were chosen which, however, significantly increases safety compared to car batteries which can exploit a protective armor that the robot, for obvious space reasons, does not have.
In short, the philosophy of the Iron development team is that of an almost perfect integration between humans and robots: Iron does not want to be seen as a tool or as something alien from society. Starting from the work context, where they will be integrated in the first phase, and continuing with the home context which is a final goal, robots like Iron will become familiar, at least according to the intentions of the XPENG development team.
A robot that does not depend on the Internet
But how will these robots think? XPENG Iron is designed not to be dependent on the internet: the network connection will be an extra, something that Iron will be able to use, but on which its functioning will not depend. The integrated AI on board and the processors for processing the data arriving from the sensors (and from interaction with humans) will make Iron able to always function, without access to a remote “brain” represented by the Cloud.
In fact, the project was born with everything necessary, in terms of hardware and software, for always work offline. It seems like a paradox, but the development team of one of the most technological companies in the sector starts from a philosophy that distances itself from the human behavior of recent years, now dependent on the lifeblood that the Internet offers us in the form of social networks…
The robot of the future will be able to
think without the Internet, while today’s humans are already starting to struggle to take their heads away from the screen of the connected smartphone and risk becoming increasingly dependent on Chat GPT and similar for any activity.