During one of the busiest travel periods, commuters in Hefei, China, encountered more than just trains. Humanoid assistants, four-legged inspection dogs, and drones patrolled metro stations and tunnels, aiding passengers with directions and performing infrastructure checks.
This marks China's first full-space 'robot cluster' for rail transit, deployed to assist during the Spring Festival travel rush. The platform operates in three key areas: intelligent service within stations, vehicle inspection, and tunnel inspection.
At stations, humanoid robots guided passengers, while robot dogs patrolled for safety. Underneath trains, autonomous robots used high-definition cameras and ultrasonic sensors to scan wheels, bolts, and components in maintenance trenches, flagging any faults detected.
Future plans involve integrating large AI model technologies to enhance the robots' central control, enabling more accurate identification and response to abnormal situations. While designed to assist human staff and improve efficiency, the deployment highlights the expanding role of AI and robotics in public transport and infrastructure monitoring.