Lei, also Xiaomi’s CEO and chairman, shared an article on Monday about trial operations in the firm’s car production facility, where the robots were said to have operated autonomously for three continuous hours, successfully completing assembly tasks without human intervention.
In a video released by Xiaomi, the humanoid robots were shown picking screw nuts and tightening them to designated spots on car floors, achieving a 90.2 per cent success rate for simultaneous installation on both sides within Xiaomi’s rapid turnaround time for vehicle production – as fast as 76 seconds per unit.
The success rate was measured by the number of successful installations divided by total attempts, according to Xiaomi.
Xiaomi said the main technical challenges involved precise alignment with locating pins, handling variations in the nuts’ internal spline structures and countering magnetic forces that could affect gripping stability.
He added that Xiaomi would continue to promote the use of general-purpose humanoid robots in smart manufacturing and anticipated that a large number of humanoid robots would be working in Xiaomi factories in the next five years.
The company said the robots carried out a range of tasks on the automotive production line, including removing protective films, installing vehicle badges, picking up and placing self-tapping nuts and moving material boxes. Xiaomi added this indicated a shift from laboratory-based technology demonstration to real-world industrial scenarios.
Xiaomi plans to deploy ‘a large number’ of self-developed humanoid robots in its own factories over the next five years. Photo: Xiaomi
The company did not disclose the expected number of robots to be deployed, the cost per unit or a timeline for the five-year target.
The firm added that the robot was built on the firm’s tactile fine-tuning model TacRefineNet, which relies solely on tactile sensing without vision or object 3D models, as well as the vision-language-action large model, emphasising the role of tactile perception in precision assembly.
The company showcased several other products at the ongoing MWC Barcelona 2026, including the debut of a concept electric hypercar, Vision Gran Turismo. It also announced plans to produce a premium smartphone in partnership with German camera maker Leica. Previous generations of the Leitzphone, named after Leica founder Ernst Leitz, had been jointly built by the German company and Japanese electronics firm Sharp.
Humanoid robots, a high-profile segment of China’s growing technology sector, are receiving renewed attention from capital markets.
Galbot revealed it had raised 2.5 billion yuan (US$363 million) on Monday, just months after raising more than US$300 million at a valuation exceeding 20 billion yuan, according to a report by Shanghai Securities Journal.
Noetix Robotics also announced it raised nearly 1 billion yuan in Series B financing on Monday, led by Chendao Capital, an affiliate of battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd.
Originally written by: Eunice Xu and He Huifeng
Source: South China Morning Post
Published on: 3 March 2026
Link to original article: Xiaomi tests humanoid robots in car plant as firm plans to deploy ‘large number’ in 5 years
