The trials, conducted during the National Day holiday in early October, involved several DR02 humanoid robots operating across Xihu District in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. The company said the exercise examined whether autonomous machines could undertake routine roadside duties while helping traffic personnel manage crowded streets and difficult weather conditions.
Testing locations included intersections along Zheda Road and West Wenyi Road in Lingyin Subdistrict, alongside tourist areas surrounding Xixi National Wetland Park. Heavy visitor traffic and prolonged rainfall provided conditions for assessing the robots’ navigation, environmental awareness and interaction capabilities.
DEEP Robotics said the machines performed traffic guidance, pedestrian monitoring and public assistance functions. Their deployment was experimental rather than a permanent replacement for traffic officers, with human personnel remaining responsible for enforcement, emergency response and decisions requiring professional judgement.
The DR02 carries an IP66 protection rating, indicating resistance to dust and powerful water jets. The specification allows operation in demanding outdoor environments, although it does not establish that the robot can withstand immersion or every possible weather condition.
According to the manufacturer, the trials specifically examined continuous operation during rainfall, including the ability to maintain positioning, recognise moving obstacles and adjust traffic direction gestures without interrupting roadside duties.
The robots use environmental perception systems and motion controls to navigate intersections, avoid pedestrians and vehicles, and respond to changing surroundings. Their visual recognition capabilities are designed to identify certain unsafe behaviours and issue spoken reminders.
These include electric bicycle riders travelling without helmets, overloaded electric bicycles, pedestrians crossing designated boundaries and vehicles stopping beyond marked lines. The machines can deliver verbal warnings intended to encourage compliance without requiring officers to intervene in every minor incident.
During demonstrations, robots wearing reflective traffic vests issued instructions to road users and signalled pedestrian movements. Their visible test markings distinguished them from regular traffic enforcement personnel.
The company also evaluated multilingual communication at tourist destinations, where visitors sought information about transport arrangements, scenic routes and local restrictions. Its robots provided spoken guidance intended to reduce repetitive enquiries handled by personnel stationed around crowded attractions.
A DEEP Robotics statement issued on October 8 described the programme as an examination of cooperation between people, robotic systems and existing traffic infrastructure. The company said information collected during the deployments would support further improvements to environmental perception, movement control and task execution.
The distinction between successful demonstrations and dependable everyday operation remains important. Publicly available material does not establish how long individual robots operated without interruption, their failure rates or the extent of remote human supervision required.
No independently verified performance figures covering traffic incidents, response accuracy or operational costs have been disclosed. The tests therefore provide evidence of practical experimentation rather than proof that humanoid systems can reliably replace conventional traffic management arrangements.
Safety considerations are particularly significant where robots operate close to moving vehicles and pedestrians. Reliable obstacle detection, stable movement on wet surfaces and predictable responses to unexpected behaviour are necessary before such equipment can undertake wider public duties.
Water resistance addresses one operational difficulty but does not independently guarantee accurate perception during heavy rainfall, when visibility, reflections and environmental noise can interfere with automated systems.
DEEP Robotics has positioned the DR02 as an industrial humanoid capable of working beyond controlled indoor environments. Its published specifications describe an operating temperature range from minus 20 degrees Celsius to 55 degrees Celsius, together with modular components intended to simplify maintenance.
The robot stands approximately 1.8 metres tall and is designed to walk independently, negotiate obstacles and perform tasks in environments built for human workers. Its articulated structure enables movements resembling those used by roadside personnel.
The Hangzhou trials represent another application for the company’s robotics technology, which also includes machines developed for industrial inspection and operations in challenging environments.
Local traffic management personnel participated in the exercise, allowing the machines to be assessed alongside existing roadside arrangements rather than operating as an independent enforcement service.
The manufacturer said further field testing would help refine the robots’ ability to interact with pedestrians, recognise traffic conditions and execute assigned duties across different public environments.
At Xixi National Wetland Park, testing concentrated on visitor enquiries and route guidance, while roadside deployments focused on traffic signals, safety reminders and maintaining order during the holiday crowds.
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