During the Labor Day holiday, Hangzhou, in east China’s Zhejiang Province, deployed a fully operational “robot police squadron” to key areas, bolstering the city’s traffic management capabilities.
This deployment marks a significant stride in China’s application of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance public services and urban governance.
Deployed on May 1, the squadron consists of 15 intelligent traffic management robots strategically positioned at key downtown intersections. Their mission is to manage non-motorized vehicle and pedestrian traffic, provide directions, and assist human officers, creating a new model of “human-machine collaboration.”
The robots are tailored to the specific needs of their locations. In the famed West Lake scenic area, visitors can simply approach a robot, press the “I want to speak” button on its interactive screen, and ask for directions. Powered by a sophisticated large language model, the robot quickly processes the request and, using real-time traffic and location data, provides the optimal walking or public transport route via voice and on-screen graphics.
At major city intersections, the robots serve a law-enforcement support role. Equipped with advanced visual recognition algorithms, they conduct 24/7 intelligent monitoring to identify traffic violations, such as electric scooters crossing stop lines or riders not wearing helmets. Upon detecting a violation, the robot issues an immediate audio warning and can relay the incident data to a central command for further action.
Beyond enforcement and assistance, the robots can also serve as traffic directors. Leveraging millisecond-level synchronization with traffic light systems and a built-in library of standard traffic police gestures, they can execute eight distinct commands, including “go,” “stop,” “turn left,” and “turn right.” This ensures their signals are perfectly aligned with traffic lights, providing clear and unambiguous instructions to drivers and pedestrians alike.
According to Chen Sanchuan, an officer with the Hangzhou Traffic Police, the introduction of the robot squadron has significantly alleviated the workload on human officers. Capable of working continuously for 8 to 9 hours a day, the robots handle routine, repetitive tasks, freeing police personnel to focus on more complex duties that require human judgment and intervention.
The deployment in Hangzhou is not an isolated case but part of a broader national trend. Across China, cities are integrating AI and robotics into their traffic management systems to improve efficiency and safety during the busy holiday period.
In Kashgar, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a robot clad in a high-visibility uniform has been directing traffic at a major intersection since the start of the Labor Day holiday. With a high-definition camera on its head, it performs standard traffic gestures with fluid precision, drawing onlookers’ attention and demonstrating the city’s commitment to building a “smart transportation” system.
Similarly, in Ordos, north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, two robot traffic police have been on duty since May 1. Utilizing the Internet of Things and AI technologies, they are tasked with traffic direction, traffic safety education and intelligent patrols.
According to Wu Qingyun, a traffic police officer in Ordos, the deployment of robot traffic police has not only enhanced traffic efficiency and freed up manpower at intersections but also paved the way for more refined urban traffic governance.
Jiang Lei, a leading scientist at a national-level robotics hub, noted that the deployment of robot traffic police across multiple cities signifies more than just technical proficiency in traffic control and voice interaction. It marks a pivotal moment where embodied AI is actively participating in China’s urban governance.
“This trend suggests that robot traffic police are just the beginning, with more industries in China poised to accelerate their intelligent transformation,” he said.
