Alibaba Debuts Cloud Computer, Delivery Robots
at Cloud Computing Conference
Alibaba Cloud, the digital
technologies and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, today unveiled a
series of innovative products at its 12th annual Apsara Conference,
highlighting the technology pioneer’s commitment in helping people adapt to the
more digitized world and accelerate customers’ digital transformation during
and after the pandemic.
A highlight is Alibaba
Cloud’s first cloud computer, a palm-sized personal computer which, despite
being just about 60 grams and as light as
an egg, offers high-performance
computing, thanks to robust back-end cloud resources. By simply connecting the
cloud computer with a normal computer screen , a user can access almost unlimited computing resources anytime,
anywhere, while paying on a subscription model or for the actual cloud
consumption.
“We hope our cloud computer
can help people access resilient computing power whenever they need to, so they
can conduct complex tasks which usually require sophisticated and powerful PCs,
such as video editing, animation rendering, software development, and
online customer services, with a tiny personal computer at hand now,” said Jeff
Zhang, President of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence. “As working from home becomes
the new normal during and after the pandemic, we believe our innovation can also help
users more easily enjoy the benefits of cloud computing anytime, anywhere, in a
cost-effective yet secure way.”
With robust computing power,
the cloud computer can reduce the rendering time of one frame high-resolution animation from
90 minutes using a traditional PC, down to only 10 minutes. In addition, the
cloud computer’s system upgrades are conducted online, saving a big chunk of
the normally heavy cost of PC machine upgrades and maintenance in traditional
office settings. Through
Alibaba Cloud's self-developed app-streaming
protocol, which is designed for synergy
between the cloud and the device, users can also purchase and access licensed
apps and programs such Linux and Windows as well as various office
applications. All user data will be stored on cloud for datacenter-grade
security and protection measures. Available initially for enterprise customers, the cloud computers will be
also available for purchase by individual consumers in the near future.
Alibaba Cloud also unveiled
its autonomous logistics robot for last-mile deliveries. Developed by the
Alibaba DAMO Academy, the global research initiative by Alibaba Group, the
delivery robot can carry 50 packages at one time and cover 62 miles (or 100 kilometres) on a single charge. It is estimated the mobile
robot should be able to deliver as many as 500 packages a day to one designated community or campus,
meeting the rising demand for speedy last-mile delivery in China. Online
shopping is booming there, with 200 million packages delivered daily and
expectations that will rise to 1 billion packages per day in the coming years.
“We are expecting a rapid
spike of delivery demands brought by the thriving New Retail and local services
businesses in the increasingly digitalized world,” added Zhang. “To meet the
strong delivery demand for our internal business growth and for the larger
society, we have been investing in smart logistics, including logistics robots,
for years. We are glad to launch our latest mobile delivery robot, which we
will support Cainiao, Alibaba’s logistics platform, to serve communities,
campuses and business parks in China. “
“Moving ahead, we aim to
support the delivery needs of our local services businesses and leverage our
technologies for other types of service robots, such as service robots in the
airport and tourism guide robots in scenic spots.”
Supported with reinforced
learning technologies, the intelligent robot can schedule its route even in a
crowded environment. With proprietary, high-definition positioning technology,
the robot can operate even where there’s
weak or no GPS signal. Leveraging a self-developed heterogeneous
computing platform, 3D Point Cloud Semantic Segmentation (PCSS) technology and
deep learning, the robot can also identify obstacles and predict the intended
movement of passengers and vehicles a few seconds ahead of time to enhance safety.
Consumers can use either the
Cainiao or Taobao mobile apps to select a preferred timeslot during the day for
delivery. The robot then arrives at the designated destination, where users
retrieve their packages simply by entering a passcode they receive in the app,
once the robot arrives.
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