The planet’s aircraft fleets are becoming more digital. It’s a core truth that many of us will have heard. Industry analysts say that in terms of standard logged data from manufacturers, including GE and Rolls-Royce, a modern aircraft generates between up to 1 terabyte of data per flight. It’s a fairly arbitrary figure i.e. when it comes to raw processing, some estimates jump to 20 terabytes per engine, per hour.
This digitization of the flight service experience now has the potential to extend to the way we manufacture aircraft parts in the factory. Chinese humanoid robotics developer UBTech Robotics has noted developments this year to reach a new agreement with Airbus to supply robots for use inside aircraft manufacturing facilities.
Industrial Humanoid Robots
While General Motors can trace its first use of “robotic arms” back to the 1950s, we’ve moved a long way from die-casting and screw fitting. UBTech Robotics’ Walker S2 industrial robot (the clue is definitely in the name, it walks) arrived in summer 2025. The device is designed specifically for industrial enterprise use in demanding production environments. It stands 5’8” tall in its non-stockinged feet. The Walker S2 has what its makers denote as “dexterous arms and hands,” and its computer vision system enables it to perceive the contextual meaning of its surroundings and move in a humanlike way.
Signing the deal with European aviation giant Airbus represents a tangible development in UBTech Robotics’ ambitions to deploy industrial humanoid robots beyond China. The firm is not alone in this regard; Guangzhou-based electric vehicle manufacturer Xpeng is also pushing forward with its international expansion plans and both companies see Europe and the US as key markets.
Heralding what some are calling a new era in aviation factory operations, humanoid robotics deployments at this level have to be able to perform high-precision tasks and meet strict safety standards. They also need to exhibit robust and reliable performance metrics and be able to operate under what are sometimes harsh environmental conditions.
Hey, They Must Work Out
Reasonably beefy in terms of performance, the Walker S2 can shoulder weight loads of up to 33 pounds. Possibly its spookiest functionality trait of all, the unit can also remove and replace its own battery power pack without human assistance in a matter of minutes. The company says this capability has been engineered into the Walker S2 so that it can perform tasks on long shifts with almost continual walking and lifting movements.
In terms of giving the robot both brains and brawn, the Walker S2 comes with a proprietary Co Agent artificial intelligence system; a foundational digital knowledge and AI service which enables the robot to coordinate movements, recognize objects and adapt to different tasks on production lines. It appears that although these humanoids are unable to distinguish between individual humans, we can infer that they would certainly be able to discriminate between people and other humanoid “colleagues” on the factory floor.
Not quite a rise of the robots scenario, UBTech Robotics does say that it has so far produced over 1000 Walker S2 units at its factory in Liuzhou, southern China. The deal with Airbus is reflected by similar deals happening in the automotive sector. UBTech Robotics is also reported to be signing an agreement with semiconductor company Texas Instruments, these days known affectionately as TI.
Billions of Yuan
UBTech Robotics has given us a sense of the market potential for humanoid robots and stated that its orders reached 1.4 billion Chinese Yuan (just over US$200 million) in 2025. It envisages being able to ship tens of thousands of industrial humanoid robots in the immediate future.
