Inside a training facility in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, a new generation of young workers is teaching robots how to fold clothes, sweep floors, and tidy rooms. These tasks, though simple for humans, require meticulous guidance from specialized trainers known as "data collectors."
On July 30, the "Vibrant China Research Tour" visited the Zhejiang Tsinghua Flexible Electronics Research Institute's (Tsinghua Flexible Electronics) embodied intelligence training ground. Here, each robot works alongside a young person, all of whom are referred to as data collectors. Their daily routine begins by entering simulated living environments, donning VR goggles, and gripping mechanical claws to start a day of teaching and data collection.
Yang Huiqin, a post-00s graduate of Jiaxing Nanhu University, started as an intern at the facility and now works there full-time. Her role involves standing in a fixed area, performing actions as a model for the robots. While the work may seem basic, Yang approaches it with caution. "Human movements are broad, and we all have unconscious habits, but when demonstrating for robots, we must control our range of motion and eliminate those small, unnecessary actions," she explains.
The ease of human tasks belies the difficulty of replicating them for robots. Initially, Yang feared the machines, worried that an exaggerated move might cause damage. "I was afraid of harming its parts," she recalls. Working alongside robots, she feels a sense of interconnectedness, yet data collectors must maintain a safe distance to avoid obstructing the robots' limbs while monitoring tasks like arranging flowers or folding clothes. She enjoys naming them "Xiao Bai" or "Spirit" to give them vitality.
Despite the repetitive nature of the work, Yang finds fulfillment in watching the robots' accuracy and efficiency improve. In just six months, she progressed from a team member to a team leader, and now serves as a project scheduler for data collection, organizing daily tasks to meet deadlines.
The demand for data collectors is rising with the growth of the embodied intelligence industry. Tsinghua Flexible Electronics currently employs nearly 300 data collectors, mostly post-00s from local vocational schools or other regions, including some undergraduates. The institute collaborates with schools nationwide to offer internships, allowing students to enter the field early.
On July 30, inside the training ground, young data collector Zhu Sikai, an intern from Zhengzhou Institute of Information Science and Technology, trained a robot to grasp objects on a table. Finding the experience novel, he hopes for major breakthroughs in human-machine collaboration in the future. Another intern, Zhang Ruoxuan, also from a Zhengzhou vocational school, operated a screen behind a robot, teaching it to pick up socks from a sofa and place them in a basket. Throughout the facility, multiple post-00s trained robots to retrieve items, throw away trash, and stock supermarket shelves, demonstrating the meticulous work behind advancing robotics.
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