The Chinese government is to publish technical standards to regulate its growing industrial robot manufacturing sector, according to a report on China.org.cn.
Speaking at the 2016 China Robot Industry Conference on Wednesday, the deputy director of the Ministry of Industry’s Equipment Industry Department, Sun Feng, says the standards will cover aspects such as product quality, research and development capabilities, staff qualifications, sales practices and social responsibility.
The website also reports that Sun said the ministry will also launch pilot projects for service robots and set standards for those as well.
Guo Xuan, deputy director of Beijing-based Yizhuang Smart Robotics Industry Research Institute, says that while the local market in robot manufacturing is growing, the quality of the machines needs to be high.
Xuan says: “Domestic robotics firms need to be wary of blind expansion. We have already noticed overcapacity in low-end robots.”
Proper regulation and industry-wide standards, says Guo, are the keys to ensuring the healthy development of robotics. “They will help excellent firms stand out from the competition and focus more on research and development in core technologies.”
