Beijing has deployed 72 robot “employees” across 14 municipal parks this summer, using artificial intelligence-powered machines for everything from cleaning and security patrols to guided tours and mosquito control as the city faces high temperatures.

At the Summer Palace, cleaning robots equipped with lidar and sensors can begin working within 30 seconds after sanitation workers use a mobile app to define their operating areas and select cleaning modes.

The robots can sweep up litter, spray water, clean along edges and automatically adjust their cleaning intensity based on how much waste they detect. They can also navigate around pedestrians and vehicles.

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The park has also introduced robotic tour guides that operate along preset routes, provide information to visitors, answer questions and remind crowds to maintain order.

At Yuyuantan Park, 11 robots are currently in operation, including a 1.5-meter patrol robot equipped with more than 10 artificial intelligence models, radar and cameras.

The patrol robot can recognize activities such as smoking and issue prerecorded voice warnings to visitors.

Meanwhile, Zizhuyuan Park is using mosquito-catching robots designed to attract insects by simulating the carbon dioxide released in human breath.

Beijing’s experiment with robotic park workers began in 2024, when the city launched its first “robot + landscaping” pilot project at Yuyuantan Park.

Over the past two years, 23 robotic devices developed by 18 companies have been tested in real-world park environments. Technologies that proved successful have gradually been introduced in other municipal parks.

The robotic workforce is also expanding beyond cleaning and patrols. Newly deployed aquatic weed-removal robots can cut, collect, drain, transport and unload vegetation, either remotely controlled or autonomously.

Authorities plan to combine operational data collected from robots across the parks to improve monitoring and expand the use of robotics in urban landscaping and park management.

The initiative highlights Beijing’s growing use of robotics to take over routine and labor-intensive tasks in public spaces, particularly as extreme summer temperatures create tougher working conditions for human employees.

News.Az

By Aysel Mammadzada