Editor's Note: Behind every major industrial breakthrough is a place where ideas become reality. Future, Made Here takes readers inside Chongqing's four flagship laboratories to explore how advances in AI, biomedicine, advanced materials, and green technologies are powering the city's manufacturing upgrade and shaping the future of innovation in western China.

Chongqing - What happens when artificial intelligence meets a centuries old art form? Jialingjiang Laboratory's Sichuan Opera face-changing robot offers one answer, highlighting Chongqing's expanding digital innovation ecosystem.

The robot is just one example of Chongqing's broader push to integrate digital and intelligent technologies into manufacturing. As one of China's leading manufacturing hubs, the city spans 39 of the country's 41 industrial sectors and all 31 manufacturing categories, with strong capabilities in automobiles and electronics. It is advancing industrial upgrading through research and development, smart manufacturing, and a growing innovation ecosystem.

A Sichuan Opera face-changing robot interacts with a researcher. (Photo/Lei Jian)

What makes the robot stand out is the complexity of the performance it replicates. Face-changing, one of the best-known techniques in Sichuan Opera, requires performers to switch masks within seconds while precisely coordinating eye movements, body gestures, and stage rhythm.

To enable the robot to perform this intangible cultural heritage technique, the research team worked with artists from Chongqing Song and Dance Troupe and Chongqing Sichuan Opera Theatre.

They repeatedly refined the robot’s head structure and movement logic. Using mechanical principles, the team designed a face-changing device within the robot’s limited head space. The robot carries six masks as standard and can be expanded to as many as 20.

Smooth movements, including cross-steps and slow turns, proved more difficult than the rapid face changes.

“Robots lack the human sense of touch and proprioception. They can only determine posture through joint data and an internal navigation system, so their movements are naturally rigid,” said Ma Jie, an assistant researcher at Jialingjiang Laboratory.

The team built a motion-capture system to address the problem. Professional performers recorded movement data and adjusted their range of motion, while researchers optimized the motion-control algorithms.

After six months of development, the team completed the entire process from device design and data collection to model training and system deployment. It also developed multi-robot control technology, allowing several robots to perform in sync. The face-changing robots have since appeared in several major cultural performances in Chongqing.

Jialingjiang Laboratory has also partnered with Changan Automobile on embodied intelligence technologies. The team has developed a dual-arm robot combining a wheeled base with a humanoid upper body. Each arm can carry five to six kilograms, making the robot suitable for assembly and material handling.

The laboratory has also developed a quadruped robot equipped with visual perception algorithms. It can identify terrain, climb steps and cross gaps autonomously, making it suitable for industrial inspection, emergency exploration and other high-risk tasks.

At Changan Automobile's Avatr Digital Intelligence Factory, robotic arms apply adhesive. (Photo/Chongqing Daily)

How Chongqing's factories inspired a new generation of labs

Jialingjiang Laboratory's work extends well beyond robotics, covering seven research areas including digital infrastructure and medical equipment. 

As one of Chongqing's four municipal laboratories, Jialingjiang Laboratory plays a key role in an innovation ecosystem that spans basic research, technology development and commercialization, supported by more than 200 national and ministerial-level science and technology platforms.

That innovation ecosystem is closely tied to Chongqing's manufacturing strength. As one of China's leading automobile production bases, the city produced 904,200 vehicles between January and May this year, according to the Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Statistics. 

Digital and intelligent technologies are playing an increasingly important role in improving productivity, quality and manufacturing efficiency.

At Avatr Digital Intelligence Factory operated by Changan Automobile, robotic arms work in coordination, automated guided vehicles deliver materials to production stations, and a smart management platform monitors workshops and production processes in real time, enabling digital control across the entire production line.

Wu Kezhi, General Manager of Avatr Digital Intelligence Factory, said the plant operates a fully connected 5G private network covering seven workshops. Once consumers select vehicle colors, configurations and power options online, their orders are sent directly to production systems, which match materials and arrange production.

By the end of 2025, Chongqing had built 1,231 basic-level smart factories and digital workshops, as well as 211 advanced-level smart factories.

Digital upgrading is taking place not only on production lines but also in core technologies. Jialingjiang Laboratory has worked with a Chongqing automaker to develop a magnetorheological smart suspension system.

The system adjusts damping in real time according to road conditions, improving ride comfort and handling stability.

At an automaker’s vehicle performance testing center, vehicles equipped with the system are being tested on bumpy roads and through high-speed turns, while maintaining stable body posture.

Liu Duo, Deputy Director of Jialingjiang Laboratory, said the team carried out full-chain research covering magnetorheological fluids, damping components and control algorithms. After more than 100 rounds of testing, it resolved performance instability under high- and low-temperature conditions.

The system has passed multiple tests by the automaker and third-party institutions. Its performance has reached an advanced industry level, and the technology has been commercialized.

The growth of Chongqing’s digital and intelligent industries depends not only on technological breakthroughs but also on a strong industrial ecosystem. In recent years, the municipality has promoted the shift from scattered development to industrial clustering.

In May, Chongqing launched the Moli Highland, an artificial intelligence innovation and incubation community, focusing on intelligent connected vehicles, embodied intelligence and industry-specific AI agents.

The community covers about 100,000 square meters and is linked to a nearby innovation zone spanning about 4 million square meters, as well as more than 5,000 AI and software companies. It aims to build an industrial ecosystem in which upstream and downstream businesses can work closely together.