From laboratory robot to work of art
At the end of 2021, China gave itself 5 years to become a key player, globally, in the robotics sector. Its rise in power is already very real. Evidenced by the industry that shines brightly today: those of intelligent electric vehicles. The government’s effort is more than ever focused on the diversification of supply chains. Hence the recently created start-ups.
“Do-It-All” Robots
Or almost! You only have to travel around the country to see that robotics is gradually taking its place in people’s daily lives. In motorway toll stations, restaurants, hotels, certain shops including pharmacies short of manpower,… There are even, in certain medical structures, diagnostic robots dedicated to pinpointing the patient on essential points.
More prosaic, but acclaimed by the cantors of “We could eat on the floor!” “, robot-cleaners, latest generation. Example, the L10s Ultra which has just caused a sensation at the International Industrial Fair in Berlin. Presented by the Chinese manufacturer Dreame, it is an exemplary “vacuuming and mopping” robot: it empties its dust container itself and cleans its mops as well as possible. What else to ask for?
Xiaolai said “High Entropy”?
What was missing in the Chinese laboratories, as in any overworked laboratory, was a very sklilful, indefatigable assistant, not counting his hours and perfectly even-tempered. It has been around for a short time, it is Xiaolai and it was developed by prominent researchers from Hefei University. Its mobile arm evolves among the reaction tubes equipped with various instruments; his memory stuffed with knowledge makes all the tests imaginable as well as chemical and biochemical analyses, he can identify molecules, isolate them, oppose them and study their reactions, etc. In short, it is irreplaceable in this respect, but not only! Thus, Xiaolai gets on well with researchers specializing in energy. It detects high entropy materials for thermodynamics; it determines the composition of the catalyst capable of best stabilizing hydrogen batteries; he is able to create a material X for a function Y and this, on demand… Casually, he is pushing the frontiers of knowledge in the essential field of clean energy and he is advancing by leaps and bounds. In a few weeks, It can take down the work of several years of research on an individual scale!
Robotic art at Guggenheim
It was not this famous New York museum that paved the way for robots in the field of art. In Belgium, in 1971, the city of Liège featured the famous Cybernetic Tower by the Hungarian visual artist Schoeffer. In Paris, the City of Science and Industry took the plunge in 2014, followed a few years later by the Grand Palais. During its major exhibition Tales of our Time, in 2016, Guggenheim exhibited in a large glass cage the work of two very controversial Chinese artists – Sun Yuan and Deng Yu -: a large robotic arm operating a giant squeegee. Scraping what? A pool of blood, it seemed. Which gave food for thought and it was. Also in Venice, during the 2019 Biennale where it was offered to everyone’s curiosity, It was then that a wind of madness propelled the robot on Tik-Tok. To date it has been viewed 50 million times. On Youtube he still scrapes from time to time, on demand. With a constantly renewed frenzy!
