Published : 18/12/2025

On 18 December 1987, China's first entirely domestically produced robot, Yegang-1 (冶鋼1號), was born, which marked an important milestone in the manufacturing history of China's industrial robots. It also signified the successful breakthrough in China's robot manufacturing technology.

Upon receiving commands issued by an operator via a keyboard, the orange-red robot subsequently rotated and extended its arm freely, and performed an arc welding demonstration swiftly and accurately on a steel plate. The Yegang-1 robot officially passed a ministerial-level appraisal.

Automatic control experts who participated in the appraisal believed that the Yegang-1 robot was China's first entirely domestically produced robot.

Among the more than 100 robots manufactured before it, the software and some of the hardware for the control systems were all imported from abroad.

After four years of hard work, scientific researchers from the Beijing Institute of Iron and Steel Technology achieved full domestic production for this robot's hardware, software, and anti-vibration control. All of its functional and technical indicators reached the level of similar products in the world in the 1980s, filling a technological gap for China in the field of industrial robot control systems.

To this day, more and more industrial robots are being applied to the cutting edge of the manufacturing industry, assisting manual production. They have become an important development trend for the future of manufacturing.

This is also the foundation for realising intelligent manufacturing, and are moreover a guarantee for achieving industrial automation, digitalisation, and intelligentisation in the future.