Author | Zhang Ziyi
Editor | Yuan Silai
It was in 2023 when Hong Xiaoping left Southern University of Science and Technology to begin his personal enterprise.
It was a trough within the enterprise capital business. The world funding in startups dropped by 38% in contrast to 2022, and each traders and entrepreneurs have been on the sidelines.
However, a brand new spark was ignited. ChatGPT had emerged, and synthetic intelligence confirmed an unprecedented evolution pace. Even within the tutorial circle, Hong Xiaoping may nonetheless sense the speedy warming of the atmosphere.
He was an assistant professor at Southern University of Science and Technology at the moment, main a fairly secure and first rate life. When persuading his household to help his resolution to begin a enterprise, he advised his spouse, “I’ll definitely regret it if I don’t do this.”
If we glance again at Hong Xiaoping’s expertise, his alternative will not come as a shock. After acquiring his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, he had the budding concept of beginning a enterprise throughout his publish – doctoral analysis. So he selected to go away the tutorial circle and joined Honeywell to analysis sensors. In 2016, Hong Xiaoping returned to China and joined DJI, main the crew to develop lidar from scratch. In 2019, he joined Southern University of Science and Technology and returned to the tutorial world.
Although he solely spent three years at DJI, this expertise left a deep impression on him. Hong Xiaoping discovered that everybody has the chance to create an ideal product. Even if it will possibly’t change the world, it might nonetheless resolve some issues and drive progress.
So when he noticed the unprecedented power burst out by AI, Hong Xiaoping naturally thought: What ought to know-how convey to individuals? What function ought to he play? Is it attainable for robots to profit humanity extra virtually?
He may not tolerate being only a bystander of historical past. In 2023, Hong Xiaoping discovered his former colleagues at DJI and based Ruochuang Technology, launching the journey model Strutt. “Strut” in English means “to walk with one’s head held high and confidently.”
From 2023 to the current in 2025, Strutt has been researching and growing a product – the clever private journey automobile ev¹.
Strutt’s ev¹ is a fairly unconventional product. It does not appear like a conventional wheelchair product. After all, it has a extremely technological look and the strong feeling of a automobile seat. People sitting on it appear to do nothing however transfer ahead easily.
Yingke completely realized that Strutt just lately accomplished its Pre – A spherical of financing, receiving tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} in cumulative funding from a number of globally famend funding establishments, together with Matter Venture Partners and Vertex Ventures. And on November thirteenth, Strutt ev¹ was formally launched in San Francisco, USA.
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Currently, few entrepreneurs are concerned within the electrical wheelchair subject. It’s not as stylish as Ebikes, not as cool as hoverboards or scooters, and never as light-weight as electrical two – wheelers. Electric wheelchairs have a fairly fastened person profile – individuals with restricted mobility, who will be the disabled or the aged.
It appears that doing enterprise focusing on them is not that interesting. However, it is an actual and pressing want. A report from the World Health Organization exhibits that as of 2020, 3.3 out of each 1000 individuals within the United States use wheelchairs annually. In the United States, the growing quantity of aged individuals in want of mobility options has led to a robust demand for wheelchairs.
If we broaden to the worldwide scale, in accordance to a United Nations report, over one billion individuals have some type of incapacity, not together with the aged with restricted mobility due to sickness. Hong Xiaoping hopes that robotic know-how can allow these uncared for individuals to achieve full freedom, independence, and dignity.
Of course, in Hong Xiaoping’s view, the ev¹ product is not simply an electrical wheelchair. It has a grander ambition – to serve each individuals with restricted mobility and all people with journey wants. It might even function a robotic for household companionship sooner or later.
We had a two – hour in – depth dialog with Hong Xiaoping, discussing Strutt, the market, and the way technological adjustments can contribute to the long run of humanity.
01 “We’re going to do something big.”
Yingke: You’ve labored in enterprises and in addition in universities. What sort of basis does such expertise lay in your entrepreneurship?
Hong Xiaoping: After graduating with my doctorate, I did not actually need to pursue an instructional profession. I hoped to do one thing extra sensible, one thing that would mix know-how with humanity and the dream of altering the world.
Yingke: The financing atmosphere was not good in 2023. Why did you determine to begin a enterprise at the moment?
Hong Xiaoping: By that point, alternatives in all points have been virtually ripe. I had discovered what I ought to do, and the economic chain infrastructure was additionally in place. I noticed some chopping – edge analysis and will see nice alternatives and potential. From previous expertise, implementation is essential, so I made a decision to begin my very own enterprise.
Yingke: How lengthy did you concentrate on resigning to begin a enterprise?
Hong Xiaoping: I did not spend a lot time convincing myself. I spent a while convincing my spouse and household, telling them that I had to do that, or I’d remorse it.
Yingke: I observed that your father is an engineer and your mom is a nurse. Did you get any expertise from your loved ones in growing this product?
Hong Xiaoping: My mother and father have had a profound and delicate affect on me. My father is an engineer who could make one thing correctly and let others use it. My mom is a nurse. She could be very cautious and keen to take care of others. When I used to be a toddler, being within the hospital with my mom, I may see that many individuals have been in nice want of assist.
My background and tutorial journey have a tendency to be extra know-how – oriented. I’ve at all times been serious about how know-how can profit humanity and be remodeled into merchandise that assist individuals in every day life. This society must be inclusive. No matter what their bodily situation is or what their job is, they need to have full freedom, independence, and dignity. I hope that robotic know-how can resonate with these parts.
Yingke: Will your expertise in growing merchandise at DJI affect the product growth of your technology?
Hong Xiaoping: Definitely. DJI’s excessive pursuit of merchandise has deeply influenced us. When growing the assisted driving system, there have been sudden stops and begins originally as a result of the protection redundancy was set very excessive. We as soon as set the automobile mannequin just like the widespread “box” in autonomous driving, however the automobile could not transfer as a result of the field was too giant. So lastly, we refined the automobile physique mannequin right into a 3D mannequin precisely the identical because the automobile, enabling exact impediment avoidance in a slender three – dimensional house. If it have been an odd crew, they could have given up way back, however we thought we should refine this factor.
Yingke: After leaving DJI, what do you suppose is probably the most helpful expertise from DJI?
Hong Xiaoping: The most treasured expertise was really assembly a gaggle of wonderful younger individuals who have been full of beliefs and really good. For a very progressive factor, nobody knew how to do it. But exactly as a result of there was no expertise, the primary – rules considering was crucial. Everyone dared to strive, confirm rapidly, and iterate quickly, and eventually, we may attain the world – class stage.
The smartest thing about DJI is that it offers engineers rather a lot of freedom with out too many guidelines and laws, offering us with rather a lot of house to discover. And it has the dedication to present enough sources for precise productization and manufacturing. It’s arduous to get such progress elsewhere, and I’m grateful to DJI.
Yingke: You began what you are promoting in 2023. Have you been researching and growing this product for the previous two or three years?
Hong Xiaoping: We’ve been researching and growing this product for 2 years. The first 12 months was for researching platform know-how, and the second 12 months was for refining the product. But I would like to emphasize that we began person analysis from day one. Since we do not have a protracted – time period want for it ourselves, we want to have a really deep sense of empathy. Most of my time, in addition to administration, is spent with customers, experiencing our product with them to discover out what’s improper and wishes optimization. Although we have not formally began promoting, the tip – customers who’ve skilled our product extremely acknowledge it.
02 “What we’re going to do is far more than just an electric wheelchair.”
Yingke: At current, whether or not it is the silver – haired economic system or merchandise focusing on the disabled, there do not appear to be many technological merchandise particularly developed for them. I’m interested in whenever you realized that this was what you wished to do and that you may do it properly?
Hong Xiaoping: Many individuals have explored the silver – haired economic system, the transformation of aged care merchandise, and the wants of the disabled, however few have actually mixed them with productized know-how. There are two thresholds right here: one is know-how product match, and the opposite is product market match.
Can know-how finally be became a product? Can the product meet market demand? Both are very troublesome. What sort of product can join them?
Currently, there are few enterprises actually specializing in merchandise within the silver – haired economic system. I imagine that clearly defining the product is extra necessary than defining the person group or the know-how stack. The product is the bridge between individuals and know-how.
Yingke: So how do you obtain this match?
Hong Xiaoping: Our feeling is that the demand positively exists. Imagine that the worldwide ageing charge is excessive, there are fewer and fewer younger individuals, and fewer younger persons are keen to do nursing work. The social disaster is actual, and the disaster additionally means robust demand. But the core drawback is how to pinpoint that demand. It should be a specialised product that meets the wants and has future scalability.
When we have been selecting a product, we had an concept: how to meet the wants of many individuals and obtain the most effective mixture of know-how and the market. We first centered on journey as a result of journey is essential to everybody. Once an individual’s bodily perform deteriorates or they can not exit, their high quality of life will considerably decline.
There are numerous wants within the journey subject. We discovered some core ache factors: how to higher drive private journey units is essential. Personal journey units want to be utilized in numerous indoor and out of doors locations with advanced and changeable environments, so a excessive diploma of intelligence is required to present a way of ease and security whereas driving. This is the core purpose why we predict intelligence can convey important worth to this state of affairs.
Yingke: You will need to have investigated many merchandise earlier than. In your opinion, what ache factors of such merchandise have not been solved?
Hong Xiaoping: Electric wheelchairs themselves do not meet the wants of many individuals. Many individuals do not want a wheelchair. They could have issue strolling or need to go to an exhibition. In this case, they clearly do not want a wheelchair, particularly contemplating that within the basic social definition, wheelchairs are extra for the disabled. We don’t need this to be the case. We hope our product can present sufficient dignity and freedom.
The most painful level is that it’s totally troublesome to management a wheelchair exactly with a joystick, which can lead to collisions, unintentional roll – overs, or an incapability to move by way of slender areas.
The difficulties lie in a number of points: one is path management. The joystick could be very small and delicate. Different from a automobile’s steering wheel, a slight motion of the joystick will vastly enhance the turning radius of the wheelchair, so it’s totally difficult for the aged to management the path exactly. The different is pace management. The joystick has a brief stroke and excessive power. It’s both at zero or totally pushed, and it is troublesome to management it at an applicable pace.
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Yingke: The ev¹ is provided with lidar, which is often utilized in drones or vehicles. How did you come up with the concept of utilizing it on a wheelchair?
Hong Xiaoping: Our considering did not begin from lidar itself. How can we create a greater robotic product? Especially within the present scenario of an ageing inhabitants and a low delivery charge, how can now we have a greater product to meet the wants of extra individuals? We began from this level.
Robot know-how has developed considerably right this moment, and I imagine it’ll proceed to develop additional within the subsequent decade. Technologies equivalent to giant – language fashions, embodied intelligence, and multi – sensor fusion are progressively maturing. It’s foreseeable that robotic know-how will enter a golden age. For me, what’s extra engaging is how we will use this know-how to profit extra individuals.
During the product growth course of, we discovered that the ev¹ is excess of simply an electrical wheelchair. Whether from the points of design, know-how, goal person group, or person expertise, it has far exceeded the scope of an electrical wheelchair. We desire to outline it as a private journey system. Today, drones and clever assisted – driving methods are very smart, however the private cell journey units we see usually are not in an excellent state. Electric wheelchairs are one of them, however they’re a tool invented within the final century.
If a journey product might help extra individuals and intelligence performs an necessary function in it, then it will possibly positively assist resolve some issues arising from the ageing society.
03 Returning management to the person
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Yingke: I observed that an necessary design of the ev¹ is the assisted – driving system (Co – pilot). Why did you select this human – machine co – driving mode?
Hong Xiaoping: We interviewed many customers, and a substantial quantity of aged customers connect nice significance to management rights. They imagine that retaining management is an important perform of the assisted – driving system.
Moreover, from the attitude of practical security, we do not need it to be in a very autonomous – driving state the place the person cannot intervene. We hope it is in a co – driving state related to L2.9, collectively managed by the system and the person.
Our Co – pilot presently has two features: one is stopping in entrance of an impediment. It might help the person cease in entrance of an impediment, and the person nonetheless controls the path on this mode. The second perform is small – angle deflection. When the steering instruction given by the person is inadequate to keep away from an impediment, the system might help high-quality – tune the path, offering sufficient joystick motion for the person to keep away from the impediment. At this time, we assist high-quality – tune not solely the pace but in addition the path.
This perform is often used when the person is exploring a brand new space. They hope to have a sure diploma of management, identical to “I can go wherever I want with my own legs.” So the Co – pilot is essential as a result of it helps the person drive extra safely.
Yingke: What are the difficulties of the Co – pilot?
Hong Xiaoping: It’s the underlying know-how stack (the complete set of technical options). To obtain Co – pilot, a really full clever assisted – driving system is required. Because the system wants to know precisely how a lot to modify and the way to keep away from obstacles close by, equivalent to passing individuals or pets. So