Chinese home appliance giant Midea unveils six-arm robot for factory work

Home appliance maker Midea Group has developed MIRO U, a six-armed industrial humanoid robot scheduled to be deployed at its Wuxi washing machine plant by the end of this month.\nSpeaking at the launch event last week, Midea’s chief technology officer Wei Chang said the “super humanoid” was a potential driver of industrial efficiency. The robot was expected to improve production line changeover efficiency by 30 per cent once it begins operating at the facility in Wuxi city, southern Jiangsu province, according to the company.\nMIRO U, the third generation of Midea’s humanoid robot family, is equipped with stable vertical lifting and 360-degree in situ rotation, alongside high-precision control of its six bionic arms. It can move around on wheels.\n“The core value of MIRO U lies in moving beyond mere form imitation to achieve a leap in operational efficiency within industrial scenarios,” Wei said.\n\nWei also said the company’s Meila humanoid series, designed for commercial and domestic environments, was now in final testing and was scheduled for a 2026 roll-out in Midea’s retail stores, where the robots would conduct product tours and demonstrations.\nThe group has invested heavily in robotics in recent years, acquiring German robotics firm Kuka in 2017. In 2022, the Chinese firm was given government approval to establish the State Key Laboratory for High-end Heavy-duty Robots – also known as the Blue Orange Laboratory – before launching its Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre in 2024.\nChina is witnessing a surge of interest and strategic investment in the deployment of humanoid robots. This was evident at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai in July, where Chinese-developed humanoid robots were a major attraction.\nChina’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently appointed Unitree Robotics founder Wang Xingxing and AgiBot co-founder Peng Zhihui to a national humanoid robotics committee.\nThe sector is also seen by the government as a means to modernise the country’s industrial infrastructure and meet the needs of its ageing population. Beijing recognised tech self-reliance, with robotics as a key component, as a primary objective of its 15th five-year plan, covering the period from 2026 to 2030.\n