Chinese home appliance giant Midea unveils 6-arm robot for factory work

Home appliance maker Midea Group has developed MIRO U, a six-armed industrial humanoid robot scheduled to be deployed at its Wuxi washing machine plant by the end of this month.

Speaking at the launch event last week, Midea’s chief technology officer Wei Chang said the “super humanoid” was a potential driver of industrial efficiency. The robot was expected to improve production line changeover efficiency by 30 per cent once it begins operating at the facility in Wuxi city, southern Jiangsu province, according to the company.

MIRO U, the third generation of Midea’s humanoid robot family, is equipped with stable vertical lifting and 360-degree in situ rotation, alongside high-precision control of its six bionic arms. It can move around on wheels.

“The core value of MIRO U lies in moving beyond mere form imitation to achieve a leap in operational efficiency within industrial scenarios,” Wei said.

Wei also said the company’s Meila humanoid series, designed for commercial and domestic environments, was now in final testing and was scheduled for a 2026 roll-out in Midea’s retail stores, where the robots would conduct product tours and demonstrations.