GIFT's Embodied AI Delivery Robot Debuts at CIIF 2026

During Oct. 12-16, 2026, a delivery robot that can climb open-riser stairs, call and ride elevators on its own, and carry packages from a parcel station to a customer's doorstep made its debut at the 2026 China International Industry Fair (CIIF), drawing attention as a concrete example of embodied AI moving from the lab into real-world logistics.

The robot was developed by a team led by Professor Ruigang Yang at the Global Institute of Future Technology (GIFT), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, together with faculty member Chenggang Wang and students Xincheng Tang, Yiji Chen and Yitong Li. It marked the institute's first spin-off project to appear at the industrial fair.

The team ran live demonstrations showing the robot's capabilities. The robot uses a self-developed vision-language large model as its "brain", combined with a quadruped wheeled base, a six-axis robotic arm and a storage compartment. It can traverse 3D terrain, operate building facilities independently, deploy with minimal mapping, and understand social norms—for example, pressing elevator buttons politely and safely using force-control sensors.

In a real-world setting, the robot can climb open-riser stairs, call and ride elevators autonomously, and complete an end-to-end unmanned delivery from picking up goods at a parcel station to navigating inside a building and reaching a user's doorstep. The team stated the robot could offer a new intelligent route to solving the “last-mile” delivery bottleneck.

The project attracted strong interest during the fair. The team interviewed with multiple domestic and international media outlets, including CBC and Shanghai Education Television. Team members also held technical and business discussions with potential clients from China, Canada, Greece, Mexico and beyond.

The demoed robot highlighted GIFT's progress in translating embodied AI research into deployable technology and practical applications. It also showcased the hands-on, solution-driven innovation of students who contributed to the design and construction of the robot. Feedback from exhibitors and visitors was positive, the team said.