It's perhaps not widely appreciated that commercial robots are not only about replacing humans in manual and repetitive tasks in industry – but all that could be set to change, thanks partly to the efforts of tech group Kingo Bots.

The innovative company, which is based in the Lin-gang Special Area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone – located in Shanghai city in East China – has reportedly developed a series of robots to save workers from the very real risk of harm under hostile conditions.

The company, founded in March 2018, specializes in the technical R&D of intelligent inspection robots widely used in such fields as urban pipe conduits, steel production and metallurgy and the petrochemicals sector.

An inspection robot is busy performing its duties. [Photo/WeChat account: shlgguanweihui]

At a cold-rolled steel factory operated by Baosteel – one of China's biggest iron and steel groups – an inspection robot is busy performing its duties including autonomous inspections, intelligent monitoring, data collection and analysis, as well as the review of various status alarms. The temperatures there can shoot up to as high as 60 C in summer.

Tracks have been installed on each floor to ensure a smooth passage for the robot.

Previously, these thankless tasks were done by workers. They had to climb up, layer by layer, to check for leaks in the furnace body and damage to the burner.

Production volumes were often checked by low efficiency, slow emergency responses and high safety risks. But these limitations and disadvantages no longer exist with the use of the robot, according to a project manager.

Kingo Bots is testing its self-developed Firefly series (YHC-100) intelligent inspections robot. It can replace manual labor in environments that often feature high risks, high temperatures, high humidity, high radiation and toxic gas – and that can require monitoring carried out over long distances.

The robot is also designed to conduct independent inspections and monitoring of production machines and equipment, municipal facilities and the operations behavior of personnel. It is equipped with an intelligent data analysis system to support its autonomous alarms and joint emergency response functions.

According to Xu Jun, deputy general manager of Kingo Bots, the robot adopts high-definition image machine vision technology, infrared imaging temperature measurement technology, sound spectrum analysis technology, as well as other cutting-edge technologies – to measure gas concentrations, temperatures and humidity.

The company has reportedly achieved small-scale production to date and the robots have been applied in Shanghai and Suzhou projects.

To top it off, Xu said the robot can achieve an estimated 30 percent increase in labor efficiency.