By Meryl Kao / Staff reporter
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The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday launched a domestic quadruped robot research and development platform, and showcased two prototypes built in collaboration with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and local business partners.As artificial intelligence (AI) evolves from generative AI to agentic and physical AI, robotics has become one of the government’s key national development priorities, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Chin-tsang (何晉滄) said at a news conference in Taipei.Taiwan has a solid foundation for developing intelligent robots, backed by strengths in information and communications technology, semiconductors, precision manufacturing and systems integration, Ho said.
Ministry of Economic Affairs officials, industry representatives and tech researchers attend a news conference promoting domestically developed quadruped robots at the ministry in Taipei yesterday.
Local companies, including Solomon Technology Corp (所羅門), Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶), Inventec Corp (英業達), Nexcom International Co (新漢) and Teco Electric & Machinery Co (東元電機), joined to develop the platform over about 18 months, he said.The two quadruped robot prototypes feature a large model capable of carrying up to 20kg and suitable for firefighting and underground tunnel inspections, and a smaller model with a 5kg payload has autonomous navigation and collaborative transport capabilities. They are system-integrated by Inventec and Compal, with visual payload supplied by Solomon and controllers developed by Nexcom.
