The following article is from GGII Robotics, author Sya
On October 28, 3Srobotics announced the completion of a new round of financing exceeding 100 million yuan, with investors including Zhongke Xinkong, Xingsheng Equity, Jiayou Fund, Linchuang Sinan Fund, Dingsheng New Kinetic Energy Fund and Jiaxing Xinglv, among other institutions.
This round of financing will be mainly used for the iteration and data training of embodied AI models, as well as market promotion and channel construction.
Public information shows that 3Srobotics was founded in 2020 and is an embodied AI robotics company focused on vertical welding scenarios.In 2022, it acquired HGXD Robot Co., Ltd., and is currently one of the few domestic intelligent robot companies with the “AI algorithms + welding processes + robot bodies” three-in-one autonomous core capability. Its controlling subsidiary HGXD is located at a smart factory in Haining, Zhejiang, with an annual production capacity of 1,000 welding robots and cumulative shipments exceeding 5,000 units.
Born for “Intelligence”
Welding is an ancient yet crucial process. Since the dawn of human civilization, the joining of metals has been a key force driving technological progress and social development. From the earliest manual forging and flame welding, to later arc welding and gas-shielded welding, every technological innovation has embodied human wisdom and effort.
But with the progress of the times, welding is facing a severe labor shortage. Relevant data shows that by 2025, China’s welder shortage is expected to reach 5 million, expanding to 10 million by 2035. Replacing people with machines in the welding process has become one of the choices of current manufacturing enterprises.
Data from GGII shows that in 2024, the sales volume of welding robots in the Chinese market reached 52,500 units, a year-on-year increase of 12.9%; it is expected to increase to 57,500 units in 2025, a year-on-year increase of about 9.5%.
It is worth noting, however, that in fields represented by steel structures, shipbuilding, tunnel bridges and energy, the small-batch, diversified and non-standardized production characteristics make traditional teaching-based programming time-consuming and laborious, and the limitations of reliance on manual operation are increasingly prominent, making it difficult to meet the core demands of modern manufacturing for efficient, flexible and intelligent production, while demand for intelligent welding robots continues to rise.
GGII predicts that China’s intelligent welding robot sales will grow from 4,300 units in 2024 to 37,300 units in 2030, with a CAGR exceeding 43% from 2025 to 2030. This data not only demonstrates the enormous potential of the intelligent welding robot market, but also highlights the industry’s urgent expectation for intelligent welding solutions.
On this basis, the definition of “intelligence” becomes particularly important. For intelligent welding robots, intelligence means not only the improvement of the degree of automation, but also a comprehensive upgrade across multiple levels such as perception, decision-making and execution.
3Srobotics Founder and CEO Wang Dezhao said:“The biggest pain point of the current industry is the insufficient level of intelligence. Intelligence is a very comprehensive manifestation, which, when broken down, means deficiencies in welding reachability, efficiency, quality and other aspects. The entire industry needs higher-order models and more data training to iterate products.”
It is for this reason that, since its founding, 3Srobotics has focused on vertical welding scenarios, providing manufacturing enterprises with “mechanical welders” capable of autonomous perception, decision-making and execution, committed to solving industry pain points such as welder shortage and harsh working environments. By combining AI with industrial robots, it improves the precision and efficiency of traditional welding in this production process, effectively reducing labor costs and promoting the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry.
Starting General-Purpose, Accelerating Intelligence, Breaking Through with Autonomous Mobility
“The company currently focuses on embodied intelligence in the vertical welding scenario, deeply serving the production and manufacturing process at the factory end.” In Wang Dezhao’s view, only by deeply understanding the welding process can one truly build robots well for vertical scenarios.
Therefore, it can be seen that, amid industry involution and accelerated industrial transformation, 3Srobotics has not rushed onto the road hastily, but has used three clear paths to steadily advance its exploration and practice of welding intelligence, building its own logic and strategic context.
The first path: facing standard parts, 3Srobotics launched its first-generation general-purpose industrial robots,including multiple series such as HA006B, HH010L, HH020, HH050 and HS220, demonstrating 3Srobotics’ deep understanding of the basic needs of industrial automation.
The second path: facing the demand for intelligent welding, 3Srobotics launched its second-generation intelligent welding robots,equipped with AI recognition and 3D reconstruction capabilities, enabling teach-free, one-key startup.
At the same time, 3Srobotics also launched the intelligent welding standard product for the light steel, shipbuilding and bridge industries — the HGXD V-series embodied intelligent welding system, integrating HGXD robot technology, 3Srobotics digital twin, adaptive welding processes and vision technology to empower industrial welding scenarios, and is one of the representative products of 3Srobotics’ “3-in-1” intelligent welding system.
The HGXD V-series embodied intelligent welding system has complex multi-degree-of-freedom motion capabilities, able to reach various welding positions without changing equipment or adjusting processes, improving welding reachability and adaptability. It optimizes paths through programming and control systems, completing welding with the shortest path and fastest speed, saving welding time and improving production efficiency. It adopts advanced sensor technology and high-precision control systems to achieve precise positioning and motion control, ensuring welding point accuracy with welding precision at the millimeter level or even higher, guaranteeing the consistency and stability of welding quality.
The third path: breaking the “goods-to-person” production model, 3Srobotics launched its third-generation autonomous mobile welding robots,supporting wheeled and multi-legged forms to further expand flexible operation scenarios.
The third-generation autonomous mobile welding robot is equipped with 3Srobotics’ self-developed “3-in-1” intelligent welding system, targeting space-constrained scenarios with a new option of “no modification of existing production lines, production in as fast as 1 hour”, especially suited to vertical-face welding needs such as fuel tanks and transformers. Among them, a single AGV can operate independently, or connect to MES through its built-in scheduling interface; multiple devices take turns entering stations to complete A/B-face relay welding, requiring no crane and no fixed platform, instantly giving traditional blind spots such as beside columns and passage openings welding capability.
It is understood that 3Srobotics’ second-generation products have already been shipped in batches, and the third-generation wheeled products have also been phased into the market.
It can be found that 3Srobotics has carefully laid out three generations of product lines in its focus on welding technology innovation, advancing the welding intelligence process step by step.
And behind this is precisely the core advantage of 3Srobotics’ “three-in-one” closed-loop capability.
Wang Dezhao explained: “Most players in the industry possess only one or two of these capabilities, while 3Srobotics has fully self-developed and deeply integrated everything from robot body design and manufacturing, to the embodied AI model, to welding process data.”
Among them, in terms of the embodied AI model, 3Srobotics adopts an “end-to-end” path, training robots to understand welding tasks through a multimodal vertical welding large model, giving them stronger adaptability and high-order functions under non-standard, complex working conditions, such as real-time molten-pool tracking and dynamic process adjustment.
In terms of market strategy, 3Srobotics drives sales through a “troika” model: integrator agency, direct end-customer contracts and robot labor services. At present, it has gained the recognition of nearly 200 outstanding enterprise customers, including China Railway Group, Baosteel Steel Structure, Aluminum Corporation of China, State Grid, China National Building Material, Baosheng Group, Wuhu Tianhang Heavy Industry, Haier, Samsung, Panasonic and China CNR, covering multiple industries such as heavy industry, construction machinery, shipbuilding, bridges, electric power, high-speed rail, automobiles, 3C and home appliances.
It is precisely with such an all-around market layout that 3Srobotics has achieved remarkable results in the market. According to its introduction, the company’s revenue has grown at an average annual rate of over 50% in the past three years, and is expected to exceed 100 million yuan in 2025. Because all core links are self-developed, the company “has an advantage in cost”. At present, R&D personnel account for over 50% of the team, and R&D investment accounts for about 30% of revenue.
Wang Dezhao said that going forward, 3Srobotics will continue to deeply cultivate welding scenarios and, after firmly establishing itself as an industry leader, gradually expand into other industrial manufacturing processes. In the future, the company will also lay out overseas expansion, focusing on developing markets such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Japan and Korea.
