Overview
On August 20, at the 2026 World Robot Conference (WRC) parallel forum "Bionic Empowerment · Smart Creation of the Future — Bionic Embodied Intelligent Robot Technology Breakthroughs and Industrial Ecosystem Co-building," Ren Lei — lifelong professor at the University of Manchester, founder of Yuequan Bionics, and executive committee director of the Jilin Provincial Bionic Robotics Innovation Center — released a complete self-developed product matrix: the Y-Hand ("Ying Shou") bionic dexterous hand series, YQ Motors series motors, and YQ Muscles artificial muscle modules. The underlying foundation is what Ren Lei calls the "bionic tension-compression body" (拉压体) robotics theory, which rethinks traditional rigid-hinge robot design across three dimensions: material composition, joint structure, and power systems.
Key Specs: Y-Hand M2
- 38 degrees of freedom — among the world's top tier of dexterous hands
- 330 N grip strength — more than 6x traditional rigid dexterous hands
- 0.2-second five-finger closure — near human-hand reaction speed, 3x faster than rigid hands
- 0.04 mm fingertip repeatability — 2x better precision than rigid hands
- YQ Motors: full-size range of 4–22 mm across 8 series, all core drive components domestically self-developed
- YQ Muscles: artificial muscle modules replicating human skeletal muscle biomechanics for compliant, safe actuation
- X-Hand M1 ("Xin Shou"): a rigid dexterous hand for high-intensity factory line work, with up to 50 kg payload and a million-cycle service life — complementing the Y-Hand series as a rigid-vs-flexible matrix
- Y-Bot ("Bo Yuan") series: hyper-bionic neuromusculoskeletal robots; the W-Bot 2.0 humanoid (for campus education, commercial guidance, home service) and quadrupeds "Zhu Ri" and "Zhui Yue" showed strong terrain adaptability
- People's Daily Online (Beijing), "2026 World Robot Conference Releases Multiple Bionic Embodied Intelligent Robot Innovation Achievements," 2026-08-23
- The Paper, "Appearing at the World Robot Conference! Changchun Bionic Robots Showcase Hard Sci-Tech Strength," 2026-08-22
- Guangzhou Daily Dayang Net, "How Can Robots Balance Compliance, Safety, and Intelligence? Bionic Tension-Compression Body Technology Provides the Answer," 2026-08-22
- China.com Technology, "Bionic Empowerment · Smart Creation of the Future Event Successfully Held," 2026-08-21
- Yuequan Bionics public product materials at WAIC 2026 (Y-Hand M1: 299.7 g, 26 DOF, 200 N grasp force, etc.)
Traditional dexterous hands face a power–speed–precision trilemma: adding force sacrifices compliance, and adding precision sacrifices payload. The M2 simultaneously achieves 2–6x traditional rigid-hand performance across all three dimensions.
Y-Hand M1: Lightweight Variant
Released in early July, the M1 weighs only 299.7 g (less than a can of cola) and integrates 26 DOF, with 8 DOF dedicated to the thumb alone. This is unusual in the industry: most manufacturers allocate DOF across all five fingers, but the human hand's fine manipulation (tip pinch, palmar grip, enveloping grasp) depends almost entirely on the thumb. The M1 has demonstrated picking up a water bottle, a wrench, and a plush toy — the last being the hardest, since deformable objects need light fingertip contact plus flexible clamping rather than rigid grip.
Supporting Product Line
The "Bionic Tension-Compression Body" Theory
Ren Lei explains it simply: in the human musculoskeletal system, hard tissue mainly bears compression while soft tissue mainly bears tension, working in coordination. Transferred to robotics, rigid components bear compression and flexible components bear tension, forming a rigid-flexible coupled, multi-level integrated system. Unlike rigid-hinge designs that concentrate both motion and load-bearing on rigid joints, this approach inherently avoids the deadlock of "high rigidity = high impact, high compliance = low precision."
A key benefit is passive safety: collision forces are absorbed by flexible components rather than transferred rigidly to humans — critical for home service, medical assistance, and elder care scenarios — without relying solely on force sensors and safety control algorithms.
Full-Stack and Embodied AI Positioning
The company also introduced the Quan Engine embodied intelligence large model for multimodal perception and deep understanding, turning cognition into precise action across hand, arm, and body. This "original theory + self-developed core components + embodied AI model" full-stack route is rare in China's embodied intelligence sector, where most players focus purely on models, purely on hardware, or integrate foreign off-the-shelf motors and drivers.
Operationally, Y-Hand M2 reportedly maintained a 96% task success rate across complex tasks in dynamic open environments. Industry-wise, Ren Lei described bionic embodied intelligent robots as "a core track of China's new productive forces and a strategic high point of future industry." Matching agreements were signed the same day in Changchun covering achievement transformation, scenario applications, and an overseas ecosystem cooperation agreement.