Revolutionizing Scenic Spots: How China’s Intelligent Manufacturing is Redefining the Future of Tourism
Original title: Robot dog transports garbage and drone delivers food (introduction)
China’s “intelligent manufacturing” has great potential in scenic spots (theme)
China Tourism News reporter Cao Yan
A video of a robot dog carrying heavy loads to remove garbage in the Taishan Scenic Area in Shandong Province has gone viral on the Internet. Previously, in the Jianmenguan Scenic Area in Sichuan, robot dogs danced and interacted with tourists and participated in the security patrol of Cuiyun Corridor; Huangshan Scenic Area in Anhui Province explored drone delivery of garbage; drone takeaways were used in Shenzhen Window of the World, Shenzhen Happy Valley, Scenic spots such as Splendid China have achieved normal operations; on the Badaling Great Wall in Beijing, tourists can also order drone takeout… Technology changes life, technology empowers cultural tourism, and robot dogs and drones are used in scenic spots, which alleviates the problem to a certain extent. It eliminates the pain points of scenic area operation and services, and is also a novel experience for tourists.
Garbage transportation is a pain point
The Eighteen Pans of Mount Tai is the most dangerous section of the Mount Tai mountain climbing route, with a total of more than 1,600 stone steps. Recently, among the tourists climbing Mount Tai’s Eighteen Pans, a robot dog stood out. Under the control of a staff member, it made a voice announcement while climbing, reminding tourists to jointly protect the environmental sanitation of Mount Tai – ” The scenic spots here are as beautiful as pictures, so don’t litter. I work hard every day, so I don’t want to be too tired. Let’s protect the beautiful scenery and make it always charming. Let’s work together to make Mount Tai cleaner. Come on Taishan, be a civilized tourist…”
“How to transport garbage down the mountain has always been one of the pain points in scenic area work. Robot dogs transporting garbage is an attempt we wanted to make. Unexpectedly, it attracted the attention and praise of a large number of tourists.” Ma, the person in charge of Taishan Cultural Tourism Group Property Company Yu Fei said, “Currently, Mount Tai’s garbage mainly relies on cableway transportation and manual handling, which can barely be handled in winter. During summer and holidays, the scenic area is under great pressure to deal with garbage.” According to reports, the number of tourists to the Taishan Scenic Area exceeded 8.62 million in 2023. The annual garbage generation reaches 24,000 tons, and the amount of garbage removal and transportation costs have greatly increased.
How much garbage does Taishan generate every day during the National Day holiday? “About 40 tons of garbage are generated every day. On the one hand, it is due to the large number of tourists; on the other hand, night climbing on Mount Tai has become popular in recent years. Night climbing is physically demanding, and tourists prepare more materials, which will generate more garbage. .” Ma Yufei said.
Some netizens mentioned that if robot dogs transport garbage, will they take away the “jobs” of Taishan mountain pickers? It is understood that there is no Mount Taishan picker position in the Taishan Scenic Area. In addition to freight ropeway transportation, part of Taishan’s garbage is currently transported down the mountain manually by sanitation workers.
Ma Yufei calculated, “There are 336 sanitation workers in Taishan Scenic Area, and there are 130 sanitation workers distributed near Shibapan. If it is a holiday, the scenic area will send additional temporary sanitation workers to about 200 people. Even so, garbage collection and Transportation work is also overwhelmed. Moreover, most of the current sanitation workers are older, and young people are not willing to do this work.”
Robot dogs transporting garbage is exactly the Taishan Scenic Area’s attempt to use new technology to solve the problem of garbage transportation.
Currently in pilot stage
According to tests, it takes the robot dog up to two hours to get from the red door to the top of the mountain. The robot dog participating in the garbage removal test in the Taishan Scenic Area this time is the Unitree B2 industrial quadruped robot, an industrial-grade product released by Hangzhou Yushu Technology Company in November 2023. The relevant person in charge of the company said that the test on the 18th plate was mainly to see the operation of the robot dog on the road section with a slope greater than 45 degrees.
“Currently, the robot dog’s stability is acceptable on relatively gentle or not particularly steep sections of road, such as the Hongmen and Zhongtianmen areas. However, further optimization is needed when climbing Shibapan, because there is only one road on Mount Tai, and there is only one road on Mount Taishan. The road in Bapan is relatively narrow and there are many tourists, so the safety of tourists must be ensured first,” Ma Yufei said.
Next, Taishan Scenic Area wants to further try drone transportation, which can not only transport materials up the mountain, but also take garbage down the mountain.
Huangshan Scenic Area has previously been “testing the waters” of using drones to transport garbage. Starting from May 2023, DJI’s drones will begin pilot work on regular transportation in the Huangshan Scenic Area.
During the interview, the reporter from China Tourism News felt that some scenic spot operators have a keen sense of cutting-edge technology and market trends. At the Jianmenguan Scenic Area, the robot dog danced at the Jianmen Gate during the National Day holiday, constantly interacting with tourists. On the ancient Shu Road in Cuiyunlang, the robot dog takes on the task of safety patrol. “Currently, the application of robot dogs in scenic spots is still in the pilot stage. Robot dog patrols cannot replace manual patrols, but more add to the tourist experience. But we also believe that there will be more and more AI applications in scenic spots in the future. ” said Xia Zhipeng, head of the brand department of the Jianmenguan Scenic Spot Company.
A scenic spot industry operator also mentioned, “When talking about the digitalization of scenic spots before, it mainly refers to the construction of smart scenic spots. By deploying various sensors and intelligent equipment in the scenic spots, real-time monitoring of the environment, people flow, traffic, etc. is achieved, and passenger flow is monitored. Analysis and guidance. In recent years, there has been a trend that scenic spots use digital technology to combine virtual elements with real scenes to provide tourists with a more immersive interactive experience. Currently, the application of robot dogs and drones in scenic spots has transformed scenic spots. The good combination of management and tourist experience is an important part of the digital intelligence of the scenic area, which makes up for the gap in the scenic area’s transportation capacity and helps the scenic area carry out forest fire prevention, outdoor rescue, etc.; for tourists, it is a novel experience ”
Become a highlight of publicity and marketing
When the music sounds, in the Jianmenguan Scenic Area, the robot dog sometimes dances gracefully, sometimes walks slowly forward, shakes hands, squats, stands up, and turns over, and performs “unique skills” constantly, attracting tourists to stop and take photos, and also adds to the ancient Jianmenguan Pass. Modern and cool colors.
On the steep Shibapan Road in Mount Tai Scenic Area, the robot dog walks steadily and becomes a scenic spot, adding surprise and fun to tourists’ mountaineering journey. Many tourists stopped and took out their mobile phones to take photos, recording the wonderful moment of encountering technology on the way to Mount Tai.
“Robot dogs and drones are currently used in scenic spots, and the check-in effect is very good.” Tang Wancai, manager of the marketing department of Shenzhen Window of the World, said, “Many tourists like to experience the sense of technology and ritual of ordering drone takeout in scenic spots. I thought it was a very novel ‘air visitor’, and there were many tourists taking pictures. “Many tourists pointed their mobile phones at the slowly landing drone to take pictures, which became a scene in the scenic spot.
Some time ago, the Badaling Great Wall Scenic Area also launched drone delivery. After tourists place an order on the takeout platform by scanning the QR code on their mobile phones, they can receive meals, drinking water, sunscreen umbrellas and other items delivered by drones in just a few minutes. The person in charge of Meituan’s drone business said that the route that used to take 50 minutes to walk can now be delivered to tourists by drone in just a few minutes, and can also take away garbage on the return trip.
In the eyes of many industry players, if a scenic spot introduces drone delivery, it will become a highlight of publicity and marketing. Because of the freshness of the experience, tourists have spontaneously promoted drone takeout in scenic spots on social platforms, triggering widespread publicity.
However, industry players also mentioned that robot dogs and drone food delivery are currently in the early stages of market development. Take drone food delivery as an example. As a low-altitude economy, drone food delivery routes need to be reviewed and approved by multiple departments, and point-to-point delivery is carried out on fixed routes. , flexible and mobile delivery is not yet possible, and tourists need to arrive at a designated location to pick up their meals.
The future is already here. An industry insider is also a technology fan. He said: “During the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year, several robot dogs lined up to enter the tennis match and performed uniform dance moves to cheer the athletes. It made people’s hearts beat. China Zhizao is great! ”
It is said that the latest generation of robot dogs can count, translate and give directions. In Ma Yufei’s imagination, “Perhaps in a few years, robot AI will have made a qualitative leap. By then, robot dogs can actively pick up, load and unload garbage in the Taishan Scenic Area. Thinking about that picture is exciting.”