Sanbot: a Chinese service robot placed in shops and airports, with an unknown support status

A security-camera company’s robot, launched in 2016

Sanbot is a service robot made by Qihan Technology of Shenzhen, China. Qihan was known for security cameras, and according to the company it was founded in 2006 and entered robotics in 2012. Sanbot was first shown outside China at IFA Berlin in September 2016. The first model, Elf, is about 90 cm tall with a touchscreen on its chest. It has flipper-like arms and moves on two wheels instead of feet. Its China price was reported as 45,000 yuan (about $6,000). In 2017 came King Kong, an enterprise model, and Nano, a home model with Amazon Alexa priced at $2,800.

From shops to customs, deployed in China first

In 2016 TechCrunch reported that the robot had already been deployed at various spots in China, from retail establishments to airports. It was described as guiding travelers at Shenzhen airport. Articles in 2017 list roles as a receptionist in a high-end furniture store, a kindergarten teacher and an airport customs officer. The company said more than 60,000 to 70,000 units were in use in China (sources differ). In China the hardware cost about $5,000 with service fees charged separately. Prices for business buyers were reported at about $10,000 to $12,000 (sources differ). The US launch came around CES in January 2017.

The robot that interrupted a minister

In February 2018, at an internet safety event in Ankara, a Sanbot kept interrupting the Turkish communications minister mid-speech. The robot said, “Speak slowly, I do not understand what you are saying.” The minister first laughed it off, then said someone should get the robot under control. After the speech, aides silenced it and took it off the stage. The scene shows how hard it is to hold a conversation in a live setting.

The company reports the cases; a forum reports the support

The deployment cases and unit counts all come from company statements or reports repeating them. We found no independent verification. In September 2020 a conference paper proposed apps for teaching sign language with an Elf. Yet a post on the RobotShop forum says the robot is no longer supported, and another user replied that it has not been updated for years. The last SDK targets development tools from around May 2020. A robot placed in a shop needs its software maintained for as long as it works there. Whether that held after the sale is the heart of this case.

If updates stop a few years after sale, can the staff keep relying on this robot for the work they gave it?

What we haven’t confirmed

• Actual units sold or in operation (beyond the company’s own figures)
• Whether sales and support continue today (we could not confirm from a company page)
• Names and dates of specific sites such as banks or hospitals (sources give only types of venue)
• How units were split between the Elf, King Kong and Nano models