ULS Robotics Secures Series A+ Funding Led by Dunhong Capital, Launches Affordable 'Thousand-Yuan-Class' Exoskeletons

At WAIC 2024, Aoshu Intelligence unveiled its new “Meet the Future” series of exoskeleton products featuring an advanced architecture, with prices starting at just RMB 6,900. This launch is poised to stimulate significant market demand by enabling more individual consumers and industry users to adopt exoskeleton technology at a lower cost.

Since completing its angel investment round in early 2019, Shanghai Aoshu Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. has aimed to develop exoskeletons priced at the ten-thousand-yuan level for industry users. The R&D team has adopted a “chip-level” granularity in its research and development approach, continuously breaking through cost barriers from core components to scaled mass production. The company is committed to miniaturizing, lightening, and reducing the cost of exoskeleton robots, while integrating them with embodied intelligence and general-purpose robotics for research, development, and applications.

This timeDunhong Asset Management Series A+ InvestmentAccelerating the initial product launch of Aoshu Intelligent’s “thousand-yuan-class exoskeleton” and the hybrid form factor combining embodied AI-enabled general-purpose humanoid robots with exoskeletons marks a new milestone.

This launch features three new products: the PES-U Energy-Storing Upper Limb Exoskeleton, the FIT-U Intelligent Electric Upper Limb Exoskeleton Robot, and the FIT-HV Intelligent Electric Lumbar Exoskeleton Robot. Among them, the PES-U Energy-Storing Upper Limb Exoskeleton weighs only 2.5 kg, making it the lightest upper limb exoskeleton of its kind globally. It provides 5–10 kg of assistance to both arms in overhead lifting scenarios, serving as a new “effortless” assistant for the arms in daily life and work.

The FIT-U intelligent electric upper-limb exoskeleton robot weighs only 3.9 kg, making it the lightest electric upper-limb exoskeleton robot among similar products worldwide. It provides a bilateral assistive force of 5–15 kg in upper-limb lifting scenarios. Launched concurrently, the FIT-U Pro intelligent electric upper-limb exoskeleton robot (Industry Edition) offers a maximum bilateral assistive force of 20 kg. The system supports 4G or Wi-Fi connectivity, enabling real-time data exchange with the exoskeleton robot and providing industry users with a secondary development data interface platform. Designed for both consumer enthusiasts and industry users, the product is particularly suited for photography enthusiasts who need to perform prolonged overhead holding tasks, such as supporting a gimbal, with minimal effort.

FIT-HV Intelligent Electric Lumbar Exoskeleton Robot provides 10–30 kg of assistance to both arms in bending and lifting scenarios. The FIT-HV enables rapid hip adjustment, tailored to users of different body types.

Launched concurrently, the FIT-Hv Pro Intelligent Electric Lumbar Exoskeleton Robot (Industry Edition) and the BES-HV Lumbar Exoskeleton Robot released in 2022 are "sibling" products from different series, providing a maximum assistive force of 40 kg. It offers flexible communication options via 4G or Wi-Fi, enabling real-time interaction with exoskeleton robot data and providing industry users with a secondary development data interface platform. This meets the personalized needs of various industry-level users for "powerful yet adaptable" support.

From the launch of its first product in 2019 to this latest release, Aoshu Intelligent has undergone five years of continuous product evolution and technological breakthroughs, a journey made possible by the support of early industry users and investors. Since 2023, Aoshu Intelligent has gradually emerged on both domestic and international stages: its presence was highlighted during the wildly popular 2023 Spring Festival blockbuster "The Wandering Earth II," it made a striking appearance at the World Robot Conference, provided support services for the Hangzhou Asian Games, became the only Chinese exoskeleton company showcased at Germany’s A+A exhibition, and debuted at CES 2024, the Singapore Airshow, and Hannover Messe in Germany, among other events. These achievements have garnered widespread attention and recognition from industry users worldwide.

Aoshu Intelligence has deeply cultivated its industry user base. Taking the mining sector as an example, Aoshu Intelligence has deployed nearly 100 sets of exoskeletons in mining scenarios. During mining and excavation operations, confined spaces necessitate manual handling for component assembly, with individual parts weighing up to 20 kilograms. Underground shifts typically last at least 7–8 hours, placing immense physical strain on workers under such prolonged, high-intensity conditions. The use of exoskeletons can alleviate labor intensity. In the aviation industry, aircraft maintenance requires technicians to keep their arms raised for extended periods to install components, leading to arm fatigue and pain. In these industries, the frequency of work-related injuries and absenteeism rates are notably high. Exoskeletons can reduce peak muscle loads and lower the risk of occupational diseases among workers. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the workforce in China’s heavy manual labor sectors has been continuously declining in recent years, while the aging trend within this workforce has become increasingly pronounced. Although most enterprises seek skilled workers, frontline employees often lack awareness of occupational safety and protection, resulting in continuous talent attrition. Currently, exoskeleton robots have been applied across various fields, including mining, automotive, aerospace, electric power, and logistics.

Concurrently, the completion of this funding round will bolster Aoshu Intelligence’s applications of embodied AI in the fields of exoskeletons and general-purpose robotics, where it has already achieved phased progress. We stand at an exciting juncture, continuously overcoming challenges to explore unprecedented technologies, thereby generating substantial industrial value and driving broader and more profound transformations for human society.

Yu Wenchao, Partner at Dunhong Asset, stated: "Dunhong Asset focuses on major technological sectors poised to have a significant societal impact. In the robotics sector, we have invested in leading companies across niche areas such as humanoid robots, embodied AI, and dexterous hands. As a typical representative of human-machine collaboration, exoskeletons are rapidly gaining adoption in the industrial sector. Aoshu, as the leading Chinese company in industrial exoskeletons with core proprietary technologies, holds competitive advantages for its products in the global market. Building on this foundation, the team has leveraged its strong R&D capabilities to achieve extreme cost optimization, launching products at the thousand-yuan price point. This move extends application scenarios into the consumer market, further broadening the scope of exoskeleton applications and creating value for a wider user base. Furthermore, the team recognized the trend of 'AI + Robotics' early on, integrating exoskeleton technology with AI to develop embodied intelligence, and is about to launch the industry’s first innovative product in this category. Through this investment, we hope to accelerate the company’s growth and look forward to collaborating with Aoshu to contribute to human-machine collaboration in the era of embodied intelligence."