Shanghai Kepler Robotics Co., Ltd. (“Kepler Humanoid Robot”) has recently launched its full-sized, general-purpose humanoid robot, the Forerunner K2, at GITEX GLOBAL 2024, which began on October 14.

Kepler Humanoid Robot is dedicated to transforming productivity through cutting-edge technology and delivering industry-leading, high-IQ blue-collar humanoid robots. Hu Debo, CEO of Kepler Humanoid Robot, said, “The Forerunner K2 represents the Gen 5.0 robot model, showcasing a seamless integration of the humanoid robot’s cerebral, cerebellar, and high-load body functions. At Kepler, we understand that innovation is driven by application. That’s why we prioritize deep integration of customer needs, solutions, and product development. From the outset, we have forged close collaborations with key customers, jointly formulating commercialization strategies and working alongside industry stakeholders to accelerate the deployment of humanoid robots.”
Enhanced Physical and Intelligent Capabilities
Following the release of the Forerunner K1 in November 2023, which featured a 25 kg payload capacity, 8-hour battery life, and highly agile manipulators, the new Forerunner K2 has undergone extensive software and hardware enhancements. During the K2’s development, Kepler engaged with nearly 50 target customers, gaining crucial insights into sector-specific requirements and challenges. Comprehensive research on real-world scenarios in intelligent manufacturing, warehousing and logistics, high-risk operations, and research and education informed the refinement and categorization of robotic capabilities, facilitating rapid iteration and launch of the Kepler K2, tailored for commercial applications.
The Forerunner K2’s embodied intelligence software has made notable advancements in dynamic perception, strategic task planning, full-body coordinated operation, autonomous learning, and motion control. By integrating a cloud-based advanced cognitive model with an embodied control system, and employing both imitation and reinforcement learning for skill acquisition, the K2 has nearly mastered the ability to autonomously complete tasks in specific scenarios. The efficiency of embodied intelligence training has also been improved. Kepler’s research and development team has optimized algorithms for human-robot interaction and data transmission, boosting real-time interactivity during remote operation. This enables Forerunner K2 to effectively cooperate with human operators, providing a solid foundation for the further development of embodied intelligence technologies. Moreover, improved gait planning and control algorithms have enhanced K2’s stability against external disturbances and its walking speed, ensuring dependability and fluidity in autonomous operations. Significant enhancements to visual perception and autonomous navigation algorithms allow the K2 to monitor and recognize its surroundings in real-time, enabling rapid and precise responses to ensure adaptability and safety in complex, changing environments.
In response to scenario-specific demands, the Forerunner K2’s hardware system has undergone substantial upgrades, including improvements to the arm and leg assemblies, tactile manipulators, wiring configuration, power systems, body degrees of freedom, as well as to the overall design. The limbs’ main structure features an integrated design, offering improved rigidity, streamlining of the manufacturing process and enhanced ease of maintenance. The latest iteration of our rope-driven tactile manipulators supports up to 11 degrees of freedom (active and passive) per hand, with a single-hand load capacity of up to 15 kg. Each fingertip is equipped with a flexible sensor that includes up to 96 contact points, which significantly enhances the robot’s flexible operational capabilities. The Forerunner K2 features a new star-shaped wiring layout for easier routing and faster connections. It continues to use a 2.33 kWh high-capacity battery, ensuring eight hours of uninterrupted use. The robot also includes special charging interfaces that support both direct and automatic charging, providing greater flexibility for energy replenishment during extended working hours. The K2 incorporates two degrees of freedom for head rotation and tilting, facilitating more natural human-robot interaction. With 52 degrees of freedom throughout the body, the Forerunner K2 offers enhanced sensory perception and hand-eye coordination. Additionally, the K2 is designed with a sleek, industrial mech-style appearance, optimally suited to the workplaces of blue-collar robots.
Driving Humanoid Robot Deployment in Application Scenarios
With Tesla’s Optimus on the verge of mass production at a scale of over a thousand units and deployment on its own automotive production lines by 2025, the application of humanoid robots is approaching a critical juncture, potentially at a faster pace than anticipated. Mr. Hu, the Kepler CEO and a staunch proponent of the practical deployment of humanoid robots, noted that the primary driver of the humanoid robot industry’s growth is their genuine integration into thousands of real-world applications, creating more value for customers. To this end, Kepler Humanoid Robot has outlined a commercialization pathway comprising three stages: initial deployment, generalization in vertical scenarios, and ultimately universal application across all scenarios. This systematic process will facilitate the deployment of robots in practical applications. The company has initiated the testing phase of the K2 humanoid robot in actual customer environments.
The Forerunner K2 is an ideal solution for a range of domains, including intelligent manufacturing, warehousing and logistics, high-risk operations, and research and education. Technological upgrades have created opportunities for further applications. At the same time as its launch, the K2 has been put through its pace at a number of key customer locations, where it has been tested on various tasks including materials handling, sample processing, patrol and inspection, stamping material collection and quality inspection. These trials have enabled the deployment process to progress as anticipated.
Following the release of the new K2 robot and subsequent small-batch production, Kepler will continue to collaborate closely with industry partners, striving to create humanoid robots that are characterized by high intelligence, reliability, safety and cost-effectiveness. Together, they are working to promote the deployment and application of humanoid robots in a broader range of real-world scenarios.
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With the school year in full swing, six in 10 (59 per cent) Canadian students now use generative artificial intelligence (AI) for their schoolwork, up from 52 per cent a year earlier, finds new KPMG in Canada research. While most say the tools have improved the quality of their assignments and helped them with exams, two thirds admit they are not learning or retaining as much knowledge, raising concerns about its growing popularity among students.
“Educators should consider what the ramifications will be for this generation who, while adept at using technology, might not be developing the critical-thinking skills that they need to lead successful lives and careers,” says C.J. James, Partner and National Education Practice Leader, KPMG in Canada, ahead of the firm’s annual Advanced Education Symposium tomorrow in Toronto. “Surprisingly, more than 80 per cent of students are claiming generative AI-produced content as their own original work, and it appears that most aren’t telling their educator that they’re using these tools.”
According to the survey, as many as 63 per cent of students are using generative AI tools a few times a week. They are primarily using them to assist them with generating ideas (46 per cent), research (41 per cent) and editing and reviewing assignments (38 per cent).
While the research shows students are relying heavily on generative AI, they seem to feel bad about it, says Ms. James.
“Almost two-thirds told us they feel that using generative AI constitutes cheating and worry that they’ll get caught or in trouble for relying on it,” she says. “In a world where we know AI is the future, a learning experience that fosters a negative connection with the usage of AI is not just detrimental for educational institutions, but also for students who are the future of Canada.”
Key poll highlights:

59 per cent of 423 Canadian students surveyed use generative AI in their schoolwork, compared to 52 per cent in 2023. That’s a year-over-year increase of 13 per cent
75 per cent say generative AI tools have improved the quality of their schoolwork
Over two thirds (67 per cent) of students using generative AI say they don’t think they are learning or retaining as much knowledge
82 per cent admit that they claim generative AI content as their own work
70 per cent say they are turning to generative AI tools for help rather than asking their instructors
63 per cent say they use generative AI tools a few times per week; 14 per cent, a few times per month, 10 per cent, daily, and only 5 per cent on an ad-hoc basis. The remaining 4 per cent use it every few weeks, and just 5 per cent tried it and have barely or infrequently used it since.
Students primarily use generative AI for:

Generating ideas (46 per cent)
Research (41 per cent)
Editing / reviewing assignments (38 per cent)
Summarizing information from publicly available sources (36 per cent)
Writing essays or reports (32 per cent)
Doing tests or exams (24 per cent)

65 per cent say they feel that they are cheating when they use generative AI
63 per cent worry they will get caught by their educator/educational institution for using generative AI tools without their knowledge

Students want to see more AI at their universities
Canadian students would like to see more AI adoption in the educational setting. Respondents ranked skills and career planning as the top area with opportunity for more AI (55 per cent), closely followed by onboarding and orientation (54 per cent), admissions (52 per cent) and course pathway planning (52 per cent).
“It’s clear that the business community is already turning to generative AI to drive innovation and turbo charge productivity,” says Ms. James. “Canadian educational institutions also have the opportunity and ability to harness AI in their operations to better equip administrators and instructors, and in their existing educational curricula to provide students with the skill sets they’ll need in the workforce.”
By analyzing large sets of data, generative AI can help educational institutions by improving administrative efficiency and student success. For example, it would provide insights into student and department performance, promote student engagement, give educators more time to develop personalized learning experiences and create unique recruitment materials to attract potential students.
“With seven in 10 students saying they are turning to generative AI for help rather than their instructors, it’s imperative that post-secondary institutions adapt quickly to this new environment,” says Jameel Ahamed, Partner, Technology Strategy & Digital Transformation, KPMG in Canada. “Our poll findings clearly show they need to both leverage its power and set guidelines on use. While many have established governance policies, having the right framework in place will be essential to accelerating the adoption and delivery of generative AI for their employees, instructors, and students.
“For the technology to be an effective learning tool, students should know when they can and can’t use generative AI for their schoolwork. Instructors need guidelines on how they evaluate student work that is supported or enhanced by the technology – and they need to know how to ensure its use enhances, not detracts from student educational development and experience,” he adds.
Other poll findings:

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74 per cent of students who use generative AI have used or plan to use it on their application for post-secondary school admissions
70 per cent use generative AI tools to create and/or refine their resume
34 per cent say it saves them 3-5 hours of time per week while another third (34 per cent) says it saves them 1-2 hours of time per week
58 per cent think generative AI will eventually replace the need for educational support staff like teaching assistants or tutors
79 per cent say their educator/educational institution uses tools to detect whether generative AI has been used in student work
51 per cent say their school has blocked generative AI web pages from laptops and/or internal networks

KPMG will hold a full-day symposium in Toronto on October 22 for post-secondary educational institutions, delving into topics from AI to improving financial sustainability and driving equity and access in higher education.
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Transcom, a leading global customer service provider, has partnered with Avaya, a global leader in enterprise CX, and Sabio Group to create an award-winning AI-powered, real-time translation solution that can enable contact centre agents from anywhere in the world to converse with customers in over 100 languages.
The solution, underpinned by the Avaya Experience Platform and integrated by Sabio, an expert services partner specialising in CX transformation, represents a significant step forward for the BPO industry, enabling Transcom to recruit agents based on their knowledge, rather than their language skills. This creates new levels of scalability when it comes to building skilled workforces capable of delivering outstanding CX.
“In our industry, it is sometimes challenging to recruit enough agents to support all our global markets. And if we do, it’s often costly to hire and retain them. Working with Avaya and Sabio, we’re empowering agents around the world to offer high-quality customer service in every required language for our clients,” said Jakob Westgren, Senior VP – Head of IT Products and Partners, Transcom.
The solution integrates real-time translation and conversational AI tools with an Avaya Experience Platform contact centre core. Speech-to-text and text-to-speech AI technology are paired with multiple translation engines and custom dictionaries to create real-time voice translation, eliminating language barriers between agents and customers.
“The open APIs present in Avaya Experience Platform enabled us to integrate what we call the Transcom Translation framework. This means that, when deployed, the solution is seamlessly integrated into core business, customer experience​,​ and operational quality assurance processes. This technology integration, with such an obvious real-world outcome, really becomes a differentiator,” said Westgren.
In addition, Transcom – which earlier this week picked up the ‘Best Use of AI Award’ at the international GITEX Global conference in Dubai for the project with Avaya and Sabio – estimates that the solution can provide clients serving customers in multiple languages with a significantly reduced total cost of ownership. “With real-time voice translation, we believe we can reduce costs for these types of clients by 25%, or as much as 65%, depending on the use cases and markets,” said Westgren.
Cameron Thomson, Group Vice President – EMEA, Avaya, said: “This is an exciting solution leveraging the power of AI, and open platform APIs, to eliminate language barriers between agents and customers. As a result it’s changing the BPO game, and we couldn’t be more proud to be supporting that transformation.”
Rob Scutchings, Chief Technology Officer at Sabio, added: “This market-leading – and now award-winning – solution showcases the transformative power of AI. By integrating cutting-edge speech transcription and real-time language translation capabilities with Avaya’s robust platform, we’re not just breaking down language barriers – we’re redefining the possibilities of global customer service.
“This project exemplifies Sabio’s commitment to driving CX transformation through innovative technology integration. We’re thrilled to collaborate with both Transcom and Avaya on this initiative, which we believe marks the beginning of a strategic partnership where Sabio is the ‘go-to partner’ for these kinds of high-value technology enhancements.
“Our expertise in CX transformation, combined with Transcom’s industry leadership and Avaya’s advanced platform, creates a powerful synergy that will continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in customer service delivery.”
The solution deployed by Transcom is on display at Avaya’s stand at GITEX Global 2024. Avaya’s participation in GITEX Global comes in partnership with Sestek and Cognigy, as well as additional technology partners.
Avaya and Sabio are hosting a webinar alongside Transcom on Tuesday, October 22nd which will take a deep dive into the real-time translation project.
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