Storyline: China's humanoid robots are quickly becoming adept at household tasks, as engineers equip them with the dexterity and intelligence to handle general housekeeping and applications in senior care. Among the contenders in this emergent sector is Hubei Optics Valley Dongzhi Embodied Intelligence Technology. Their robot, Lumen, has already mastered skills including serving beverages, folding clothes and making a bed. After debuting earlier this month at the 3rd China International Supply Chain Expo, the model has attracted potential customers with its remarkable agility and posture control. "In terms of the hardware, Lumen's movement boasts 40 degrees of freedom, and you can see the finger joints in the hands - such nimble hands are essential for performing such complex operations. On the software side, we train the robot using a general-purpose embodied intelligence model. Although it may appear somewhat slow in executing tasks now, as the volume of data increases and iterates, it will grow smarter and eventually operate much more smoothly," said Qin Zhen, data operation manager at Hubei Optics. According to Qin, researchers are training and updating Lumen at the Hubei Humanoid Robot Innovation Center to make it more adaptive to homes, supermarkets, factories and other scenarios. Robotics companies are eager to move to market, but analysts say that research on robot safety certification and ethics of science and technology are needed before robot housekeepers enter homes and communities. Despite the hurdles ahead, China's push to develop artificial intelligence and robotics for use in elderly care is already producing impressive results. In north China's Hebei Province, researchers at the Hebei University of Technology have developed a humanoid robot that can extend its arms to securely lift an individual from a bed and transfer them to a wheelchair. "We are cooperating with hospitals and nursing homes to realize its specific application in different scenarios. We are improving its functions while promoting the robot in the market to prepare for mass production," said Li Yang, an intelligent rehabilitation devices researcher at the university. Shotlist: Wuhan City, Hubei Province, central China - Recent: 1. Various of robot serving tea, preparing dish, ironing shirt, wiping wall, folding trousers 2. Lumen robot 3. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Qin Zhen, data operation manager, Hubei Optics Valley Dongzhi Embodied Intelligent Technology Company (partially overlaid with shot 4/ending with shot 5): "In terms of the hardware, Lumen's movement boasts 40 degrees of freedom, and you can see the finger joints in the hands - such nimble hands are essential for performing such complex operations. On the software side, we train the robot using a general-purpose embodied intelligence model. Although it may appear somewhat slow in executing tasks now, as the volume of data increases and iterates, it will grow smarter and eventually operate much more smoothly." [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 4. Various of Lumen robot moving hands, fingers [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 5. Various of robot tiding up bedroom China - Recent: 6. Various of researchers training, testing robots Tianjin Municipality, north China - Recent: 7. Various of researchers testing robot 8. Various of robot moving woman from bed to chair 9. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Li Yang, intelligent rehabilitation devices researcher, Hebei University of Technology (partially overlaid with shot 10): "We are cooperating with hospitals and nursing homes to realize its specific application in different scenarios. We are improving its functions while promoting the robot in the market to prepare for mass production." [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] China - Recent: 10. Robot taking bottle of water [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 11. Robot placing bottle of water on table 12. Various of robots moving hands 13. Various of robots tidying up room, making bed 14. Various of researchers testing robots 15. Various of robots waving hands, dancing. [Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland]