US students explore innovation at Pudu Robotics in Shenzhen

A student delegation from the United States visited Pudu Robotics in Nanshan District, Shenzhen, on July 15, exploring the company’s development and experiencing its latest robotic innovations.

The delegation toured the company’s exhibition hall, learning about its growth and exploring a range of products, including service robots, robot dogs and intelligent transport robots.

Delegation members pose for a group photo at Pudu Robotics. File photo

The visit gave students an opportunity to discover the applications of robotics in everyday life and gain insights into the development of China’s robotics industry.

Brogan O’Leary from the University of Wisconsin–River Falls was impressed by the variety and design of Pudu’s robots.

“They’re very cool. They’re very unique, and they have a lot of commercial and household functions,” O’Leary said, highlighting robots used for restaurant deliveries, shelf picking, and cleaning up spills and objects on the floor.

O’Leary also noted that Pudu’s robots were smaller and easier to transport than many robots he had seen in the United States.

“When you see robots like this in the U.S., they’re usually a lot bigger and clunkier,” he said, adding that some require human operation, while Pudu’s robots are fully autonomous.

Sophia Lin from Cornell University was particularly impressed by the cleaning robot that could pick up water bottles.

Sophia Lin from Cornell University during an interview with Shenzhen Daily. Jian Zhen

“I think there’s a lot more diversity in terms of their products,” Lin said. “In the U.S., you mostly see, at most, just a delivery robot.”

The visit offered the students a closer look at how robotics technologies are being developed for commercial and household applications, while highlighting the potential of intelligent robots in everyday life.