Humanoid Robots Started Serving as Traffic Police in China: Hangxing No. 1
In Hangzhou, one of China’s most crowded and developed regions, traffic is now entrusted to a robot. The humanoid robot Hangxing No. 1 has started serving as a traffic police officer at a busy intersection in the city.
Parallel to the explosion in the field of Artificial Intelligence, significant breakthroughs in robotics have enabled humanoid robots to develop rapidly. So much so that today, they are stepping into becoming a part of the workforce. We saw one of the most striking examples of this to date in China this week. China has started using its humanoid robots as traffic police on the roads. In Hangzhou, one of the country’s technology hubs, a robot is directing the traffic flow.
Known as Hangxing No. 1, this 1.80-meter tall humanoid robot directs traffic by making gestures that mimic the standard hand signals of traffic police. Starting duty at a busy intersection, the robot performs tasks such as directing the vehicle flow, detecting rule violations, and giving voice warnings to drivers.
A New Era on the Roads: AI-Controlled Traffic Officer
Thanks to its advanced camera system and sensors, the robot can monitor all directions at the intersection simultaneously, communicating basic commands such as stop, go, and wait by copying standard police movements. It can also emit a digital whistle sound and adjust its gestures to work in synchronization with the traffic lights at the intersection.
However, the robot’s capabilities are not limited to just directing. According to information reported by NotebookCheck, the robot is equipped with an AI infrastructure capable of detecting rule violations in real-time. Many violations, from motorcycle riders not wearing helmets to pedestrians crossing on red lights, are automatically recorded by the system. When such a situation is detected, the vehicle or pedestrian is warned with a calm voice tone. The robot’s goal is to correct the behavior instantly rather than punish; therefore, the warnings are prepared in a language and tone that will not create conflict.
A swappable battery system that allows it to work for approximately 6 to 8 hours enables the robot to manage peak traffic hours in the morning and evening without interruption. When the charge runs low, it can return to the station on its own to renew its battery. Hangxing No. 1’s working model is built on a constantly flowing stream of data. While cameras at the intersection transmit instant images to the AI model, the system can detect whether vehicles have crossed the stop line, whether pedestrians are walking on a red light, or whether cyclists have deviated from the safe lane. When a violation is detected, the event is recorded and sent to the central police database. In the initial stages of the pilot application, a human officer is also present alongside the robot; however, they only intervene in cases where the robot’s voice warnings are insufficient.
According to Zhang Wanzhe, one of the project’s engineers, the robot’s decision-making system continues to learn over time. The team is trying to reduce cases where the AI gives false positives by examining footage from busy hours. Problems such as shadows or some movements caused by the wind misleading the sensors were experienced in tests conducted in October; for this reason, the system is constantly being updated.
Authorities state that the robot will become even smarter in the coming period in line with the data collected from the system. It is stated that new versions supported by Large Language Models (LLMs) in the future could give directions to drivers, provide information to tourists, and even offer mini-trainings on traffic safety on the streets.
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