According to Xinhua, at a center in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province (China), employees remotely control the robot, while the sensor system records every movement to create training data. "Robot students" will repeat a task until they are proficient.
This is the National Pilot Center for Embodyed AI Application, where more than 140 robots are being trained in more than 40 real-world scenarios, from smart kitchens, warehouses, farms to simulated mines.
Unlike AI that only processes data on computers, AI embodies technology that allows robots to sense the environment, move and interact directly with the physical world.
The center was put into trial operation from May 16 with the participation of nearly 40 AI businesses and more than 10 universities and research institutes. The goal is to create a common environment for testing, completing and evaluating technology before deploying on a large scale.
One of the major difficulties of the robotics industry today is that many systems operate well in the laboratory but encounter obstacles when working in a real environment. To overcome this, the center combines direct training with high-precision digital simulation.
The technicians controlling the robot perform many repetitive operations, every movement is recorded by the sensor to create training data. In some cases, the operator only needs to wear a movement recorder and wear sensor gloves to collect data without using the robot.
Many businesses have taken advantage of this platform to develop applications. Hangzhou Data Grand Cloud AI Technology - an AI-specialized enterprise in Hangzhou, has been training restaurant robots since the end of 2025. Robots can receive orders, take ingredients, cook in 3-4 minutes, arrange dishes and clean up after serving.
Mr. Yang Jiandang - co-founder of Hangzhou Data Grand Cloud AI Technology - said that if they build their own testing system, the research cost could be up to millions of yuan. The use of the center's existing infrastructure helps businesses significantly reduce initial costs.
According to Mr. Zhang Haiwei - founder of Chingmu Technology Company, previously, training data for an application script alone could cost more than 10 million yuan. Currently, businesses can share infrastructure and data sources at the center to shorten product development time.
Official figures show that Hangzhou currently has more than 700 businesses operating in the robotics sector. In 2025, the city's indigenous AI industry achieved revenue of 106.8 billion yuan. Solutions trained at the center will continue to be tested in the community before being widely deployed.
