Rehabilitation Robots Appear in Chongzhou, Chengdu: The Era of Intelligent Elderly Care Is Arriving

On July 26, Cheng Hong, Vice Dean of the UESTC Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Director of the Robotics Research Center, appeared at the 4th China Intelligent Rehabilitation Academic and Industrial Conference in Chongzhou shortly after completing the Chengdu World Games torch relay with Lin Han, who wore an exoskeleton robot.

The conference was held in Chongzhou from July 26 to 27, 2025. With the theme “AI Empowering Rehabilitation Medicine,” it focused on strengthening multi-dimensional cooperation among government, medical institutions, academia, and enterprises to promote the high-quality development of AI-powered rehabilitation and elderly-care industries. The event was hosted by the Intelligent Rehabilitation Professional Committee of the Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine and jointly organized by UESTC-related research institutes, Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, and Chongzhou.

More than 600 guests attended, including leading scholars, senior experts, and executives. Participants also visited the Jiezi Ancient Town health-care tourism resort cluster.

At the signing ceremony on July 26, the UESTC Robotics Research Center, Buffalo Robotics Technology (Chengdu) Co., Ltd., and Chengdu Qingchengshan Hospital reached a strategic cooperation agreement to promote deeper collaboration in intelligent elderly care, focusing on smart rehabilitation and health services for older adults. Additional agreements were signed to support the development of intelligent elderly-care R&D, manufacturing, and application scenarios in the resort area.

Earlier, the UESTC Robotics Research Center and Buffalo Robotics Technology had already launched an AI rehabilitation project in Chongzhou, exploring the integration of AI and health care through exoskeleton robots and cloud-brain platforms.

Cheng brought his team’s technological achievements to the Chongzhou health-care industry matchmaking event. The exoskeleton robot shown during the torch relay was independently developed by Cheng and his team. He said it signaled the arrival of an era in which humans and machines “dance together.” In his view, assistive technology is moving from “functional compensation” toward “capability reconstruction,” driven by AI, brain-computer interfaces, flexible electronics, and other frontier technologies.

The team also displayed rehabilitation robots, including intelligent powered exoskeletons and brain-computer interface systems for motion-intention decoding. The exoskeleton uses multi-dimensional force sensors and dynamic control algorithms to provide walking assistance for people with lower-limb dysfunction. Cheng hopes to combine more clinical data with age-friendly scenarios in Jiezi Ancient Town through future cooperation.

The event also featured intelligent wearable devices from more than 10 companies, including lower-limb exoskeleton robots and spinal cord electrical stimulation systems, empowering full-scenario elderly care through technology.

Original link: https://sc.cnr.cn/scpd/hygc/20250727/t20250727_527284630.shtml