Orion Star Launches 'Zhi Ka Master' Robotic Barista in Collaboration with Tongrentang Zhi Ma Health, Ushering in a New Era of Consumer-Grade Robotic Arms

On September 25, OrionStar, an AI robotics company, officially launched its new-generation robotic arm coffee maker, the “ZhiKa Master.” The launch event was jointly hosted by OrionStar and Tongrentang’s Zhima Health. Attendees included Men Qinghua, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Tongrentang Health; Yu Jun, Vice Chairman of Tongrentang Health; Fu Sheng, Chairman of OrionStar; Yu Ruixuan, Head of Zhima Health; Su Liang, Vice President of OrionStar; Li Ting, Vice President of OrionStar; as well as other guests from both organizations and numerous media reporters.

At the launch ceremony, Deputy Secretary Men Qinghua and Chairman Fu Sheng delivered speeches on behalf of Tongrentang Health and Orion Star, respectively, and attended the signing ceremony for the strategic cooperation letter of intent between Orion Star and Tongrentang Zhima Health. This close collaboration has set a strong foundation for the market launch of the Smart Coffee Master and the subsequent series of Orion Star’s robotic arm products.

(Address by Men Qinghua, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Tongrentang Health)

(Address by Fu Sheng, Chairman of Orion Star)

(Signing Ceremony of the Strategic Cooperation between Orion Star and Tongrentang Zhima Health)

The six-axis dual-arm beverage-making robot, “Smart Coffee Master,” is the latest intelligent service robot product launched by Orion Star for coffee-related scenarios. Its debut at Zhima Health not only closely aligns with its application scenario but also demonstrates the philosophy behind Orion Star’s robotic arm product series: collaborating with partners to create a “New Chinese National Gift” by integrating “artificial intelligence + traditional culture + next-generation cognition.”

From the product itself, “ZhiKa Master” boasts numerous highlights.

At the hardware level, ZhiKa Master features a bionic appearance and a six-axis dual-arm design, enabling it to perform complex brewing motions with precise execution at every step to ensure consistent beverage quality. It is worth noting that, compared to high-cost industrial-grade robotic arms, Orion Star, in collaboration with enterprises invested in by Cheetah Mobile, has significantly reduced the cost of robotic arms through sustained R&D investment and technological breakthroughs. This effort has lowered the price per arm from over 100,000 yuan to tens of thousands of yuan, achieving a breakthrough in consumer-grade robotic arms.

In addition, the Zhika Master is equipped with an RGB depth camera that provides real-time feedback to monitor the status of the dual arms and beverage preparation, enabling intelligent error correction to ensure the safe operation of the robotic arms. Colorful indicator lights display the overall system status 24/7. The mechanical grippers can adjust gripping force and distance based on the object being handled, ensuring precise grasping and consistent high-quality beverage production. Furthermore, an aluminum alloy emergency stop button located at the rear allows for quick activation of emergency braking, working in conjunction with collision detection and electronic boundaries to ensure safe robot operation.

(Su Liang, Vice President of Orion Star and Technical Lead of Zhika Master, introduces product details)

At the software level, ZhiKa Master first adopts a modular design and leverages the open robotic arm development platform, Orion Star Arm OS, to rapidly deploy robotic applications tailored to specific user needs. Second, by harnessing the algorithmic capabilities of Orion Star’s full-stack AI technologies, ZhiKa Master has undergone over 3,000 hours of AI learning, 30,000 hours of dual-arm calibration, and visual training on a dataset comprising millions of entries. This enables positioning accuracy with a reset error as low as 0.1 mm and the extraction of techniques akin to those of top-tier masters.

It can be said that ZhiKa Master represents a comprehensive upgrade of Orion Star’s robotic arm product series, building upon its first-generation coffee robot—the autonomous robotic-arm coffee kiosk “Leopard Coffee”—by further integrating hardware and software solutions. This six-axis dual-arm beverage preparation robot meets the diverse needs of various scenarios, including cafes, brick-and-mortar stores, industrial parks, exhibitions, and city reception lounges. It further leverages the role of robots as standardized terminals in the intelligent transformation of physical environments, facilitating the smart upgrading of offline stores and new retail scenarios.

The official launch of Zhika Dashi was hardly surprising, but its partnership with Tongrentang’s Zhima Health has sparked widespread speculation.

As is well known, Tongrentang Zhima Health is a new super IP created by the century-old time-honored brand Tongrentang, integrating new services, new technologies, new business models, and new customer segments. It can be described as a new species in the field of general health. Spanning four major product and service categories—imagery, food, wellness, and medicine—it covers diverse shopping and leisure scenarios and bridges online and offline consumption. More than just a “Healthy Living Experience Center,” it not only leads new trends in healthy fashion but also provides one-stop health solutions.

The debut of the “ZhiKa Master” AI robot at Tongrentang’s Zhima Health marks the integration of artificial intelligence with holistic wellness. Through the “Punk Wellness Coffee Pop-Up Event,” the initiative aligns with young consumers’ lifestyles and preferences to promote new health concepts, launch customized “Autumn Wellness Coffee,” and create an immersive healthy living consumption experience.

Beyond this, it is essential to leverage the AI interaction and big data capabilities of robots to make services more intelligent. For “premium beverages” that require professional expertise and technical proficiency—such as pour-over coffee and drinks prepared with master-level techniques—robots can replicate them perfectly at a lower cost, with greater stability and higher efficiency. By leaving repetitive tasks to robots and reserving more creative work for humans, customers can enjoy superior beverage quality and service experiences in-store.

Meanwhile, the continuously enhancing AI and data capabilities of Zhika Master, combined with members of the Orion Star intelligent service robot family, form a comprehensive intelligent solution for new retail scenarios. Tasks such as proactive customer engagement, welcoming and reception, answering inquiries, guiding customers to seats and taking orders, and delivering beverages can all be handled by robots. This robotic assistance allows nutritionists and baristas to devote more time and energy to researching and developing new products, ensuring that more consumers have access to high-quality, healthy beverages. Furthermore, this robotic solution can be scaled and replicated widely. It facilitates the smart transformation of stores, injecting new vitality into century-old heritage brands.

It is worth noting that, in the design philosophy of Orion Star, using robotic arms to make coffee is merely the beginning. In the future, there are many more imaginable application scenarios for robotic arms, such as brewing tea, cooking, chopping vegetables, and mixing noodles. The robotic arm is not just a coffee-making robot; it represents the inception of integrating robotic arms into commercial operations and smart lifestyle services.

Developed and planned concurrently with the Zhika Master, Orion Star’s dual-arm beverage-making robot, “Zhicha Shifu,” is also set to launch on the market in the near future.

In Orion Star’s strategic planning, whether for the “Coffee Master” or the “Tea Master,” the core focus of these six-axis dual-arm robots lies in enhancing service delivery to clients and end users. The collaboration with Tongrentang Zhima Health extends beyond robotic coffee preparation and store intelligence upgrades. By partnering with a time-honored brand that prominently embodies Chinese cultural elements, the initiative aims to create a “New Chinese National Gift” by integrating artificial intelligence, traditional culture, and next-generation cognitive technologies, making the cooperation more innovative and vibrant.

The so-called "New National Gift" carries four implications: first, technological integration and AI empowerment; second, revitalizing traditional brands; third, attracting young consumers to re-experience cultural charm; and fourth, going global to represent China.

In fact, the collaboration between Orion Star and Tongrentang Zhima Health is merely the beginning of their joint effort to create new Chinese national gifts alongside Chinese brands. Beyond Tongrentang Zhima Health, Orion Star will also partner with other entities that embody prominent Chinese symbols and rich cultural connotations, such as Jingdezhen Master Porcelain, thereby continuously enriching the essence of “New Chinese National Gifts.”

With the official launch of the robotic arm “Smart Coffee Master,” the application value of intelligent service robots has once again been brought into sharp focus. As widely recognized, in the post-pandemic era, the comprehensive digitalization and intelligent transformation of commerce and the real economy have become an irreversible trend, driven by the rollout of new infrastructure initiatives and the dual-circulation economic strategy. In this process, robots serve not merely as standalone intelligent hardware, but as solutions that bridge the physical and digital worlds, enabling large-scale deployment and replication to deliver systematic services across industry-specific scenarios. From this perspective, the journey toward unlocking greater value for both the robotic arm series and the Smart Coffee Master has only just begun.