Autonomous robots are a key component of China’s anti-COVID strategy at the games.

Traditionally, the Winter Olympic Games are a showcase of elite-level athletes from around the world. But this year, it’s also an opportunity for China to put on a display of its technology—particularly it’s the robots that are owning the spotlight.

But it’s not just a case of showing off. Many of these robots are an essential part of the host country’s COVID strategy.

Hundreds of robots will be in use during these games. So, let’s take a closer look at some of the robotics technology at work among the medals won and records broken.

How Robots Prevent the COVID Spread at Beijing

It started with the torch relay, which featured two amphibious robots shaped like curling rocks, passing the torch to each other underwater. But robots are really showing up at the games in situations that involve COVID countermeasures.

The robotic underwater torch handoff.

For instance, robots are being used for epidemic prevention, with robotic services available in various different scenarios—such as accommodations, award presentation ceremonies, mobile vending, food and product deliveries, medical equipment transportation, guide and translation services and patrols.

The robots are intended not only to improve efficiencies and meal logistics but also significantly reduce human interaction and contact in the context of coronavirus transmission.

People inside the “closed loop” of attendees at the games have seen logistics robots performing event management tasks and providing contactless delivery services. Staff can pass a heavy load to the robots, which can then be transported to a designated delivery point.

Autonomous robots are taking on cleaning measures as well. Disinfection robots patrol larger areas in the Olympic facilities by spraying atomized mist. One robot can cover as much as 36 square meters in just a minute. And with a battery that can last up to five hours, it can cover a lot of ground quickly. Robots equipped with ultraviolet ray emitters disinfect smaller areas—a technology said to be better suited for those surfaces.

“The spray disinfection robot uses ultra-high frequency atomization to atomize the exchanged disinfectant into tiny particles with an average particle size of less than 10 microns, [spray] them on in the air, make it come into full contact with harmful viruses, bacteria, spores and other microorganisms … and kill them,” said Su Chunlin from Boocax, the robot’s manufacturer.

The autonomous food service and disinfection robots at the Winter Games.

And there’s another robot that takes the temperature of people along its route inside the Ice Cube venue. A person only needs to walk within six meters or so of the robot for it to take a reading, displaying the results on a video screen that also functions as its face.

Robots are also deployed to reduce contact in food service settings. The restaurant in the main media center is operated by robots and other machines. There’s a robot bartender that can mix you a drink (alcoholic or nonalcoholic) in about 90 seconds. Patrons can order their drinks by scanning a code on their phones. The robotic arm is placed at the center of a circular bar under a collection of bottles suspended from the ceiling. The robot pours the specified liquid from the bottles, adds ice, mixes a cocktail shaker and strains the mixture into a glass. The robot works alongside human bartenders, who supervise the machine and provide assistance.

As for meals, robots take on most of the meal prep as well. Customers can order a variety of dishes, including noodles, rice and hamburgers. The dining tables are surrounded by plexiglass barriers, and patrons order their meals by phone rather than from a server. In the kitchen, robotic cooks prepare the meals—and the public can watch some of them at work. The prepared meals are then delivered via a track system in the ceiling and lowered down to the customer’s table .

Customers can always opt for pickup from designated areas, where a robot will assemble their order on a tray. Similarly, customers can get a robot to make their morning coffee. With its left and right arms working simultaneously, the robot will grind the beans and brew a fresh cup for a customer.

China’s skiing robot takes to the slopes.

One of the more unusual technologies featured at the games is the skiing robot, a six-legged machine that can autonomously plan a route, alter it on the fly and navigate obstacles and skiers. The skiing robot will be used for rescue and patrol operations as well as recreation.

Not Just an Olympics Novelty

China has certainly impressed with its robots. Not only are they essential to the host country’s anti-COVID measures but they have also set the stage for market dominance in this high-tech industry. In fact, the nation recently unveiled an ambitious five-year plan to become an innovation center for the industry by 2025.

According to ZDNet, China is ninth in robot density and provides a large market for industrial robots—and it is growing rapidly. The sector expanded 15 percent a year between 2016 and 2020, generating incomes of $15.69 billion in 2020 alone. And China’s ratio of 246 robots per 10,000 people is almost double the global average. In 2015, the ratio was only 49 units per 10,000 people.

The world’s best athletes are rightfully the center of attention at the Beijing Winter Olympics—but the host country’s use of robots for the event promises to have a significant impact on robotics technology in China long after the lights go down at the closing ceremony.

Read more about China’s ambitions to be a global tech superpower at China Is Overtaking the U.S. in Artificial Intelligence.