A robot officer bearing badge number “Intelligent Police Unit R001” is seen on a road in Wuhu, east China’s Anhui Province, on January 10, 2026.
Hefei, January 17, 2020 (Xinhua) “For your safety, please ride bicycles in the non-motorized lane,” called out the voice of a cyclist swerving into the car lane at a busy intersection in Wuhu City, east China’s Anhui Province.
However, the warning did not come from a human traffic officer, but rather from a humanoid robot standing upright on a safe island.
Dressed in a police uniform, reflective vest and white hat, the robotic officer – identified by the badge number “Intelligent Police Unit R001” – looks remarkably human from a distance. Up close, its metallic elegance and futuristic demeanor have made it a local celebrity, with passersby frequently stopping to snap photos of the cyberpunk scene.
“He is a new colleague who is able to help us effectively,” said Jiang Zihao, a Wuhu traffic police officer.
According to Jiang, the “R001 Intelligent Police Module”, an AI-powered traffic monitoring robot, has been integrated with the city’s traffic light system. It can perform standard traffic command gestures synchronized with changing lights.
The robot, equipped with high-definition cameras and an intelligent audio streaming system, uses large-scale algorithms to autonomously identify traffic violations by non-motorized vehicles and pedestrians and provide on-site warnings.
In addition to its fixed mission, the robot is mobile and able to move autonomously to specified locations upon request. Its capabilities also include identifying illegal parking and performing real-time road monitoring.
“The robot can work around the clock,” Jiang said, noting that it is expected to ease the workload of police, especially during peak hours or in severe weather conditions.
RoboCop is the latest addition to China’s growing fleet of AI-powered traffic assistants.
Last year, several Chinese cities began integrating robotic officers into daily policing. In June, the city of Chengdu in southwestern Sichuan Province deployed a team of robotic police officers, including quadrobots, wheeled robots and humanoid robots, to patrol the streets alongside their human counterparts.
In December, an artificial intelligence traffic monitoring robot was also put into operation in Hangzhou, east China’s Zhejiang Province.
The deployment of these robots underscores China’s broader efforts to bring embodied intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies to real-world applications.
A report by the Development Research Center of the State Council predicts that the market size of China’s booming embodied intelligence industry will reach 400 billion yuan (about 57.1 billion US dollars) in 2030 and exceed 1 trillion yuan in 2035.
“Only by bringing the products to real-life scenarios and collecting real operational data, can we achieve rapid iteration,” said Zhang Guibing, general manager of AiMOGA Robotics, manufacturer of the Intelligent Police Unit R001.
Zhang added that the company’s robots have already been deployed in more than 100 scenarios, including reception, security patrols and public services.
A robot officer bearing badge number “Intelligent Police Unit R001” is seen on a road in Wuhu, east China’s Anhui Province, on January 10, 2026.
(Web Editor: Zhang Caiwei, Liang Jun)