Shanghai Electric presented a range of industrial robotics and artificial intelligence systems at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, including humanoid robots, pipe-processing equipment and software agents designed for manufacturing operations. The company’s portfolio covers connector insertion, electrical operations, material sorting, assembly and pipe processing. Its systems include the SUYUAN bipedal humanoid robot, which has 41 degrees of freedom, multimodal visual sensors and a dual-battery hot-swap system. Shanghai Electric said the robot is intended for inspection, material handling and assembly work.
The TUOYUAN wheeled humanoid robot uses an embodied AI model and force-position control for tasks including connector insertion, material sorting and the loading and unloading of automotive sheet-metal components. Another wheeled robot, called Mermaid, is designed to identify and operate buttons, knobs and electrical switches while generating movement paths in real time.
Shanghai Electric also displayed an autonomous robot for chamfering the inner walls of pipes. The system is designed to work in confined spaces and can position and process hole edges with accuracy of within 1 millimetre while transmitting operating data. The company presented components used in robotic systems, including planetary roller screws and the DexHand robotic hand. Shanghai Electric said its planetary roller screw can support more than three times the load capacity of conventional ball screws, while DexHand is designed for a range of gripping and manipulation tasks.
Shanghai Electric has developed 51 AI models and software agents under its StarCloud Intelligent Manufacturing product range. The systems cover research and design, production, manufacturing, operations and maintenance, with applications including process optimisation, production scheduling, quality inspection and wind-power equipment maintenance.
The agents are intended to integrate industrial operating knowledge into robotic control systems and factory-management software. Shanghai Electric said the technology could support data-based decision-making and predictive maintenance in manufacturing facilities. The company also outlined an AI-native smart factory architecture that connects production processes, industrial software, intelligent agents and equipment. The proposed system consists of an AI-based control platform, a network of industrial agents and robots, and a physical-twin system that represents factory operations digitally.
