The core technology of the development of the robot industry must be independent and controllable

Intelligent robots are leading a new round of global scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation. The robot is the carrier of chip technology research, and the chip is the guarantee for the realization of the robot's function. Cultivating and promoting the development of China's intelligent robot core chip technology and industry, and proposing a feasible development route for intelligent robot autonomous and controllable special chip technology, has important industrial value and strategic significance to solve the "stuck neck" problem of robot development, promote industrial optimization and upgrading, and achieve a jump in productivity.

The research team of Academician Wang Yaonan of the Chinese Academy of Engineering published the article "Research on the Development Strategy of Core Chip Technology of Intelligent Robots in China" in the 4th issue of the journal of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, China Engineering Science in 2022. This paper expounds the important value of the core chip technology of intelligent robots in promoting independent and controllable technology, realizing high-quality economic development, meeting the needs of residents for a better life, and enhancing the core competitiveness of the country. The international progress of relevant policies, technologies and industries was sorted out, and the basic advantages and problems faced by China in the development of core chips for intelligent robots were analyzed. Based on the multi-architecture route and the comparison of technical solutions, the development route of China's intelligent robot chip technology is demonstrated, and the field development strategy is proposed accordingly, and the key tasks and development roadmap for 2035 are formed. The article suggests that the independent and controllable development of intelligent robot chips should be elevated to a national strategy, and the top-level design should be clarified. Set up major scientific and technological projects for intelligent robot chips, and increase investment in scientific research; Policies to encourage the research and industrial application of intelligent robot chip technology have been introduced to drive the upgrading of the industrial chain; Implement measures for the cultivation and development of intelligent robot chip talents, and promote the healthy development of technology and industry.

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I. Introduction

As a representative achievement of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial revolution, intelligent robots are developed and manufactured in multidisciplinary fields such as artificial intelligence, mechanical engineering, cybernetics, materials, computers, etc., with wide coverage of the industrial chain and strong driving force, which is a strategic industry to promote the transformation and upgrading of China's industry, agriculture, national defense and other major industries, and is also an important symbol to measure the strength of national scientific and technological innovation. With the gradual integration of intelligent robots into the production and life of human beings, the environment they face is becoming more and more diverse, the tasks they are engaged in are becoming more and more complex, and the application requirements of high reliability, high dynamics and strong confrontation have put forward high requirements for the algorithms and computing power of intelligent robots, but China is still relatively weak in the field of core high-performance chips required by robots, and the independent research and development and production capacity of core components is quite different from the international leading level, and the performance of computing power, stability and integration is not good. With the increasingly severe international situation, the escalation of Sino-US trade frictions, and the intensification of the trend of anti-globalization, it is urgent to strengthen domestic manufacturing capabilities, grasp the dominance of emerging industries, and realize the independent and controllable intelligent robot chip technology and its industrial chain.

At present, the research in the field of core chips of intelligent robots in China is still in its infancy, and the formulation of reasonable strategic planning plays a vital role in its development. The existing studies systematically sort out the development status of intelligent robots and chip technologies and put forward development strategy suggestions. Focusing on the current development of artificial intelligence core software and hardware in technology, industry and policy, the relevant research summarizes the problems faced by China such as incomplete ecological system, shortcomings in basic theoretical research, and imperfect innovation environment, and puts forward ideas and goals for its technology and industrial development. Aiming at the ground-air collaborative multi-modal intelligent robot, this paper analyzes the development status of this kind of robot, points out its lack of systematic development planning, does not form a full-chain development model, and the combination of software and hardware is insufficient, and gives corresponding development suggestions. This paper introduces the concept, classification and development process of artificial intelligence chips, investigates and distinguishes the development status and trend of its industry, and puts forward suggestions for the development of artificial intelligence chip industry. The compilation group of "Advanced Semiconductor Materials and Auxiliary Materials" put forward the idea of systematic development, coordinated development of upstream and downstream and sustainable development of semiconductor materials and auxiliary materials, and formed relevant countermeasures and suggestions for the development of integrated circuits. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology and other 15 departments jointly issued the "14th Five-Year Plan" for the development of the robot industry, providing guidance for the development of China's intelligent robot industry.

Robot is the carrier of chip technology research, and chip is the guarantee of robot function realization, and the development of the two has a profound internal relationship, which is what the current research has failed to explore in depth. To this end, the Chinese Academy of Engineering has launched relevant research in a timely manner for the overall and key issues of the independent and controllable development of the core chip of intelligent robots, aiming to sort out strategic planning, demonstrate technical paths, and propose technical solutions. This paper analyzes the important value and international progress of intelligent robot core chips, summarizes China's basic advantages and problems, focuses on demonstrating the technological development route and proposes a development roadmap for 2035, in order to provide reference for national industrial policy, technology planning, technical research and other research.

Second, the strategic significance of the development of core chips for intelligent robots

The intelligent robot core chip is a high-performance processor specially used to realize robot computing functions such as perception, control, navigation, decision-making, and planning, and is the key to the robot to complete various tasks in complex environments. Through the research on the development strategy of the core chip technology of intelligent robots, it can provide ideas for the research of related technologies, promote the independent and controllable technology chain and industrial chain, and promote high-quality economic development.

(1) Promote the important track of independent and controllable technology

At present, the core chip industry of intelligent robots is facing serious internal and external troubles. The internal concern lies in the serious shortage of core technologies in the robot chip industry chain, the localization rate is very low, and the domestic chip packaging and testing are initially controllable, but the independent controllability rate of high-end links such as design and manufacturing is seriously insufficient; The external threat lies in the current international situation of the great power game, and Western countries have imposed a blockade on China's high-end equipment, materials and technologies, and an embargo on advanced chips to curb China's development. Therefore, it is urgent to carry out the demonstration of the core chip technology scheme of intelligent robots, design the chip computing architecture according to the characteristics of the algorithm model, optimize the algorithm model and compilation according to the computing architecture, so as to achieve the goals of high performance, low power consumption and low latency, promote the parallel of "straight road catch-up" and "lane change overtaking", actively seize the competitive highland of integrated circuit technology innovation, and enhance the independent and controllable ability of the core chip technology chain and industrial chain of intelligent robots.

(2) An important support for achieving high-quality economic development

The development of core chip technology can improve the operation ability and adaptability of intelligent robots, and further release the demand for intelligent robots, thereby driving the technological upgrading and product structure optimization of the entire industrial chain, which has a significant effect on the revitalization of the real economy, and then becomes an important means for the economy to move from virtual to real. Vigorously developing intelligent robots and their core chip technologies can drive the overall improvement of the manufacturing industry and become a breakthrough in the construction of a manufacturing power. In addition, as a representative industry of the information revolution, the development of the core chip industry of intelligent robots can further integrate emerging technologies such as big data, cloud computing, Internet of Things, and 5G communications, build a new industrial system, and become the "locomotive" to promote the high-quality development of China's economy.

(3) An important guarantee to meet the people's needs for a better life

The main contradiction in our society has been transformed into a contradiction between the people's ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. The development of core chip technology for intelligent robots can improve the application scope of intelligent robots, greatly enhance social productivity, free people from repetitive mechanical labor, and create more jobs with higher level and quality; The improvement of the adaptability of intelligent robots can also increase the demand for special operations, keep people away from dangerous work tasks, and play an important role in fire fighting, public security, search and rescue, explosive disposal and other work; The large-scale use of intelligent robots can effectively improve production efficiency, thereby reducing consumption and pollution in the production process. Promoting the development of the intelligent robot industry can effectively save resources and reduce emissions, and become an important support for the construction of a "two-type society".

(4) An important carrier to enhance the core competitiveness of the country

Vigorously promoting the development of intelligent robot core chip technology and industry will help ensure China's national defense security and seize the commanding heights of global science and technology, thereby effectively enhancing the country's core competitiveness. At present, unmanned warfare has gradually become the mainstream of modern warfare, unmanned system as a kind of intelligent robot with autonomous mobility ability, its situational awareness, planning and decision-making, multi-machine collaboration, motion control, etc. are inseparable from the computing and processing capabilities of the core chip of intelligent robots, the research of this project will help promote the development of military intelligence, and promote the process of national defense modernization in China. As a typical product of a new round of scientific and technological revolution, the robot core chip is an important symbol to measure the strength of national scientific and technological innovation, at present, China has great potential for development in this regard, and vigorously developing robot core chips can quickly promote the development of China's related high-tech industries and enhance the country's core competitiveness.

3. The international development status of core chips for intelligent robots

(1) Policy planning

In recent years, the global chip shortage has had a serious impact on all intelligent industries, and the world's major developed countries and regions have formulated a series of policy plans for chip development, focusing on technological innovation, interface standards, financial plans and other comprehensive layouts to seize the leading position in chip technology development.

In 2020, the United States introduced the "American Foundry Act of 2020", which recommended that Congress tighten the bottleneck of chip manufacturing technology to prevent China from overtaking the United States in the next few years. Subsequently, the American Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 (USICA) was introduced, which advocated tough countermeasures against China to improve the ability of the United States to compete with China in science and technology. In 2020, the European Commission issued the "Joint Statement on the European Processor and Semiconductor Technology Plan", which is expected to invest 145 billion euros to help the development of the semiconductor industry. In 2020, Japan released its "Green Growth Strategy", focusing on the semiconductor industry as a key development area. South Korea announced in 2020 that it would invest USD 9.5 million over the next five years to develop materials technology for sub-5 nm semiconductor lithography processes.

The traditional chip powers intend to rely on their rich experience, strong innovation capabilities, and strong economic strength, under the guidance of policies and regulations, and with the national strategy to reach a consensus among all parties, and guide superior resources to the chip field, so as to lead a new round of scientific and technological revolution and further strengthen their competitive advantages.

(2) Technical aspects

In the new wave of scientific and technological revolution, the application scenarios and operation requirements of robots are becoming increasingly complex, and higher requirements are put forward for the algorithm computing power of environmental perception, decision-making planning, navigation and positioning, and motion control. At present, the computing system based on general-purpose embedded processors and programmable logic controllers cannot meet the needs of the perception, cognition and sensitive movement ability of future robots. Therefore, it is urgent to develop the core chip of the robot under the new situation, integrate the latest artificial intelligence algorithms, and improve the intelligent autonomy of the robot.

In terms of robot intelligent algorithms, the empowerment of artificial intelligence has brought about rapid development:

(1) Artificial intelligence improves the efficiency of environmental perception. For object recognition, a series of classic frameworks such as SSD, YOLO, R-CNN are proposed, so that intelligent robots can simulate the computing mode of the human brain and rely on multi-layer convolutional neural networks to greatly enhance the ability to perceive the environment.

(2) Artificial intelligence improves planning and decision-making capabilities. The rapid development of artificial intelligence technology has greatly improved the autonomy of intelligent robots in planning and decision-making, and they can still carry out normal tasks in highly dynamic, highly complex, and strong confrontational environments.

(3) Artificial intelligence strengthens multi-machine collaboration capabilities. Based on "mobile energy and information interconnection" and focusing on the core of "model algorithm and data computing", intelligent robots can realize autonomous operation, man-machine collaboration, and machine-machine collaboration, which will become the main way of intelligent robot application in the future. Artificial intelligence technology provides strong technical support in interoperability, autonomous decision-making, and cluster control algorithms.

In terms of intelligent robot computing hardware, it is facing the problem of Moore's Law failure, and is gradually developing in multiple directions such as high energy efficiency, specialization, and customization.

(1) In the general artificial intelligence chip architecture, it is gradually evolving to brain-like and neuromorphic. In 2019, Tsinghua University released the world's first heterogeneous fusion brain-like chip - "Tianji", which allows bicycles to truly realize automatic driving and appear on the cover of Nature;

(2) In terms of manufacturing process, chip manufacturing has entered the atomic age. In 2021, Hunan University and Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology in South Korea published a review article in Nature, which discussed the key material parameters of 2D semiconductors and traditional 3D semiconductors, and summarized the ways to push the limits of 2D transistors.

(3) In terms of chip design, artificial intelligence (AI) automatic design may be realized in the future. In 2021, the Google Brain team and Stanford University published a paper in Nature, in which the AI-based chip design method was improved and applied to the next-generation tensor processing unit (TPU v4) accelerator officially released at the Google I/O 2021 conference.

In terms of the integration of robot intelligent algorithms and chip hardware, brain-like chips are a materialized solution for intelligent algorithms with natural and energy-efficient advantages. As we all know, algorithms, computing power and data are the three carriages of the development of artificial intelligence technology, the introduction of artificial intelligence technology has enhanced the algorithm efficiency of robots, various sensors have introduced massive data for robots, and the emergence of brain-like chips has become the carrier of algorithms and data. The architecture of the information processing unit of the intelligent robot chip has gradually changed to the direction of the bionic brain structure, and the brain-like chip of "storage and computing integration" has become the basis of artificial intelligence technology innovation, and has the advantage of high energy efficiency in running some intelligent algorithms. The non-volatile core devices at the bottom are also gradually replacing the volatile core devices, so as to better realize the intelligent computing functions of unstructured environments and complex tasks.