China Deploys Robot Dogs, Drones, and Humanoids to Run a ‘Full-Space’ Metro System

During the chaotic Spring Festival travel rush this past February, while millions of passengers squeezed through train stations across the country, commuters in Hefei got a surprise: robot dogs patrolling platforms, drones buzzing through tunnels, and humanoid machines giving directions.

The system, which local officials call China’s first full-space “robot cluster” for rail transit, was deployed during one of the year’s busiest travel periods. Think of it as a coordinated team of machines, some on legs, some on wheels, some in the air, all working alongside human staff.

This rollout in the capital of Anhui Province marks the first time a Chinese metro has used a “full-space” robot team. Instead of working in isolation, these machines are managed by a single platform to cover every inch of the transit environment.

Speaking to Euronews, Dai Rong, the director of the Science and Education Center at Hefei Rail Transit, explained the scope of the project: “The full-space robot intelligent dispatching platform mainly operates in three areas: intelligent service within stations, vehicle inspection, and tunnel inspection.”

While humanoid robots handle the customer service side by answering passenger questions and giving directions, the robot dogs handle the “boots on the ground” work, patrolling platforms to keep an eye on safety.

The dirty work underground

The most impressive part of this tech team happens where passengers usually can’t see.

Deep inside 1.5-meter maintenance trenches, autonomous robots crawl under parked trains to perform check-ups. These machines use high-definition cameras and ultrasonic sensors to look for loose bolts or tiny cracks in the wheels, tasks that used to take human workers hours of painstaking labor.

According to Euronews, this automated system flags issues immediately, significantly speeding up safety checks. The goal isn’t to kick humans out of the station, but to take the heavy lifting off their shoulders.

“We hope it can assist human staff, improve our work efficiency, and reduce work intensity to empower Hefei’s rail transit operations through technology,” Dai Rong told Euronews.

Building a better ‘brain’

As we move further into the year, the team in Hefei is already exploring ways to make these robots even smarter. The current setup is just the beginning; the next step is to give these machines a more sophisticated way to think and react to the unpredictable environment of a busy metro.

“In the future, we aim to build this platform using large AI model technologies to provide these robot dogs and drones with a better central ‘brain’ for control. This will enable them to identify and respond to various abnormal situations more accurately,” Luo Lei, a senior supervisor at the Science and Education Center, shared the vision for the future with Euronews.

The human element

Even with drones buzzing through tunnels and robot dogs pacing the platforms, the human touch remains at the core of the operation. 

Officials have been clear that these machines are assistants, not replacements. They handle the repetitive, dangerous, or tedious parts of the job so that the human staff can focus on the passengers and complex decision-making.

Also read: China’s Lunar New Year gala turned humanoid robots into a national spectacle, showing how quickly the country’s robotics push is moving from performances to public infrastructure.

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