Beidou technology revolutionizes daily life applications

From unmanned vessels to mountaineering suits, shared bikes, robots, and drones, China's Beidou satellite navigation technology has deeply integrated into cutting-edge fields as well as everyday life, empowering various industries and benefiting people worldwide.

At the 4th International Summit on Beidou Navigation Satellite System Applications, held in Zhuzhou, Hunan province, from Wednesday to Thursday, thousands of application scenarios were on display, showcasing solutions in sectors such as energy, transportation, agriculture, communications, and emergency response.

The summit's exhibition area, spanning 50,000 square meters with both indoor and outdoor zones, featured 112 companies, three provinces, and nine pilot cities for Beidou applications.

A robot named Qinglong Pro, equipped with a "spatiotemporal computing backpack", captured visitors' attention. Specifically engineered for humanoid delivery robots, this backpack integrates high-precision positioning with an intelligent control system. It enables the robots to navigate with precision, ensuring that they maintain their courses and complete their tasks accurately, according to Zhou Song, an official from the National and Local Co-built Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center, who unveiled the system at the summit.

In Zhuzhou, the host city of the event, 5,000 shared electric bikes equipped with Beidou navigation devices were deployed this year. This initiative, the first in China to use BDS spatiotemporal intelligence on shared electric bikes, significantly enhanced the positioning accuracy of the vehicles from within 10 meters to 30 centimeters.

The technology makes it easier to locate or accurately park a bicycle, offering an effective approach to refined urban management, said Chen Jinpei, CEO of Qianxun Spatial Intelligence Inc, the service provider.

"We have established more than 6,000 ground-based BDS augmentation stations worldwide, offering services with precision up to millimeter and nanometer level, uncovering new possibilities for various industries," Chen said.

According to a document released at the summit, the value of China's Beidou industry reached 575.8 billion yuan in 2024, a growth of 7.39 percent year-on-year.

In the next three years, Beidou applications will see an annual increase of around 400 million units, with annual growth rates exceeding 3 percent, the report forecasted. The mass consumer market will play a dominant role, making up more than 80 percent of this growth, it said.