Hesai Launches Kosmo Spatial Camera to Give Humanoid Robots 'Eyes'

What happened

Hesai Group (2525.HK) on Wednesday introduced Kosmo, a three-dimensional mapping camera, at its Shanghai factory. The wine-bottle-shaped device combines lidar sensors and cameras to help developers collect real-world spatial data more efficiently for training the AI systems powering humanoid robots.

Co-founder and CEO David Li said at the launch that high-quality spatial data needed to train AI robots to understand the real world and perform complex tasks beyond waving or dancing remains scarce, with most robots confined to low-impact functions like greeting guests, waving and dancing. He declined to give revenue projections but said the firm has signed agreements with Chinese robotics firms, and wants to build Hesai into a Bosch-like tier 1 supplier for the robotics industry.

Key facts

1. Product: Kosmo 3D mapping camera: lidar sensors plus cameras in a wine-bottle-shaped device, for collecting real-world spatial data to train humanoid robots
2. Launch: October 14 at Hesai's Shanghai factory, presented by co-founder and CEO David Li
3. Adoption: Agreements signed with Chinese robotics firms (no revenue projections disclosed)
4. Second act: Hesai is also developing robot actuators (over half of a robot's material costs); the tech is used in Sharpa Robotics' Sharpa Wave robotic hand, which autonomously serves ice cream at a Shanghai Dairy Queen — Kosmo's mapping helped it reach a 99% task success rate, Hesai said
5. Track record: World's largest lidar supplier for autonomous vehicles over the past three years, driving unit cost below $200; customers include Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, GM and Ford