“This is our hottest-selling AI drink robot, which can make a variety of flavors of cocktails in 45 seconds, with an accuracy of 0.03 millimeters ......” On February 11, the reporter walked into the Anno Robotics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd, whose founder Huang Huang was Canadian customers who came to visit the company‘s products. Since the beginning of this year, Huang Huang every day to receive one to two batches of customers from the country and the world, so busy that often do not have time to eat.

“3 years of creators, 7 years of entrepreneurship, 10 years of robotics industry research and development manufacturing.” Huang Huang describes his entrepreneurial journey in this way, in 2015, he resigned from a state-owned enterprise and arrived in Shenzhen, from then on into the robotics industry. Huang Huang from the independent research and development of robotic arms to start, and gradually expand the application scene to the coffee robot, milk tea robot, ice cream robot, bartending robot, noodle robot series, empowering the smart retail industry, in the product line and the number of products are among the first echelon of the beverage robot track, sold to more than 100 cities in China and overseas more than 70 countries and regions.

In the yearning to open the “robot dream” 

Huang Huang is a typical engineering man, from the beginning of the university, he joined the school‘s innovation laboratory to study mechanical engineering. For him, Shenzhen has always been his “city of desire”.

“Like a girl who likes to shop in a variety of shopping malls, where she can buy all the things she needs in one place, I also like to shop in Huaqiangbei Electronics Street in Shenzhen, where I can buy all kinds of electronic components, which is simply a ‘paradise’ for smart manufacturers.” Huang Huang said that at that time he had any good ideas and creativity, he could find relevant spare parts and suppliers in Huaqiang North.

In this way, in 2017, 25-year-old Huang Huang with a “robot dream”, invited the same laboratory during the university period of the same classmates to start a business together, from the beginning of the robot research and development and manufacturing, they researched and designed the desktop six degrees of freedom robotic arm.

As the courage to break into the robotics track of the startup, Huang Huang frankly said that the beginning of his often feel lost, but the stage of Shenzhen has always been open to young entrepreneurs. By participating in various exhibitions and roadshows, such as the Shenzhen High-tech Fair and the Shenzhen Creative Exchange Program, they have opened up the market for their products and broadened their horizons for development.

Once, Huang Huang saw his sold robotic arm at an exhibition, by adding a new control system, it can realize the functions of pouring water, coffee, milk, etc., which opened his mind at once.

“I have both a cost-effective robotic arm and the core technology for the control system, so why don‘t I utilize my strengths and specialties to create a consumer-grade beverage mixing robot with more market breadth?” Huang Huang asked himself, determined, since 2019, he led the team to gradually develop new application scenarios of the mechanical arm, anchored in the field of coffee robotics, based on motion capture technology, independent research and development of the control system, the corresponding action of the flower puller pulling 1:1 replica, through the machine learning and training, so as to realize the precise replica of coffee pulling.

Flexible steel arm to realize the “Master Special” 

In Shenzhen Lotus Hill Park, a cool-looking robot coffee kiosk to attract the public from time to time stop to stay. Just click on the big screen to select the appropriate coffee category, sugar, temperature and order, the mechanical arm will be waved up, less than 90 seconds, you can complete a cup of freshly ground coffee with exquisite pulling, experience the excellent taste and “sense of technology”. Huang Huang since last September, one after another in Shenzhen different places to put AI robot coffee kiosk, now has landed more than ten units.

"The vast majority of our drinking robots are localized production, and mechanical arm as one of the core components, its accuracy has reached 0.03 mm. At present, the company‘s self-developed mechanical arm products have obtained 60 patents." Huang Huang said.

In the company‘s showroom, in addition to replicating the quality of the master of the coffee pulling kiosk, but also displayed a row of milk tea robots, ice cream robots, bartending robots, noodle robots, and other rows of “martial arts” beverage robots. Huang Huang said that these products through a mechanical arm plus the corresponding device, can realize the “master special adjustment” effect, has been in the new business, new retail, scientific research and education, light industry and other emerging areas of landing and application.

“In fact, over the past two years we have realized a multiplying development, the annual output value and production are doubling, the monthly output of robotic arms can reach 200 units, and the annual output of robotic commercial equipment can reach 500 units.” Huang Huang said.

To this day, Huang Huang has kept a habit of writing review notes when he first started his business. Huang Huang almost every day in the notebook to write a summary of the work, including related issues, ideas to solve, and sometimes write some insights. This kind of notebook, Huang Huang has written nearly 20 books.
“Robots serving humans are becoming more and more common, and coffee shops will develop further toward the model of robot coffee kiosks.” Huang Huang said that in 2025, Anno Robotics will not only deploy beverage robots in more cities, but will also develop a virtual human interaction product based on big model and artificial intelligence technology. At that time, users can place precise orders by conversing with the virtual human ordering mode.