Malaysian agritech firm Agroz has launched Agroz Robotics, a new robotics division created in partnership with Chinese humanoid robotics company UBTECH Robotics to advance automation within controlled-environment agriculture (CEA). The initiative will integrate robotics capabilities with real time agricultural intelligence to build a fully coordinated and automated CEA ecosystem inside Agroz OS, the company’s proprietary farm operating system.
Agroz OS is a vertical farm operating system consisting of digitally automated hardware components that manage environmental and operational conditions within vertical farming facilities, along with software modules that support communication, coordination, and other administrative functions across the farm organization.
As part of the program, UBTECH’s industrial humanoid robot Walker S will be deployed in Agroz’s controlled-environment farming facilities as a hardware platform connected to Agroz OS. The AI robotics system will support automation of core activities such as seeding, monitoring, harvesting, and crop optimisation.
The partnership aims to improve productivity, reduce labour reliance, and deliver more precise and consistent crop quality while supporting Agroz’s broader sustainability goals.
Humanoid Robotics In CEA Operations
Agroz operates controlled environment vertical farms in local communities, producing vegetables for distribution to consumers and businesses while providing information on how these crops are grown.
Gerard Lim, CEO of Agroz, stated that the company acknowledges the Malaysian government’s efforts to foster an enabling environment for deep-technology development, which he noted supports broader national goals in food security, sustainability, and economic resilience.
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UBTECH Robotics is a company that develops humanoid robots and smart service robots. The company has built a full stack of humanoid robotic technologies and applies these capabilities in the research, design, production, and commercialization of smart service robot systems. The comapny provides integrated robotic solutions that combine hardware, software, services, and content, and its technologies are used in sectors such as education, logistics, wellness and elderly care, and business services.
Our collaboration with UBTECH is a major milestone in our mission to redefine agriculture by using robots and artificial intelligence. This new collaboration enables us to combine cutting-edge humanoid robotics with data intelligence to build smart, self-optimizing farms to support the scalable production of cleaner, safer, and more sustainable food
UBTECH’s Walker S is generally used as an industrial humanoid robot in manufacturing, logistics, and smart-factory environments, where it performs tasks such as material handling, inspection, and workflow support. The collaboration with Agroz is the first publicly reported initiative positioning Walker S for agricultural use, specifically within controlled-environment and vertical-farm operations.
Leon Li, General Manager of UBTECH’s Industrial Robotics Division, said the company views its collaboration with Agroz as an opportunity to extend the application of its AI and robotics technologies into additional sectors, including agriculture, and to support ongoing efforts toward sustainable agricultural development in Asia and internationally.
Scaling AI-Driven Automation in Food Systems
Through integration with UBTECH’s automation systems, Agroz intends to deploy modular robotic solutions for vertical farms, smart greenhouses, and hybrid indoor outdoor facilities in Southeast Asia. According to Agroz, the initiative is consistent with Malaysia’s and regional efforts to strengthen sustainable food production and supply chain stability. As the company explores wider expansion in Southeast Asia, it plans to assess how robotics and automation can contribute to more efficient, reliable, and climate-resilient food production systems.
The Agroz, UBTECH partnership represents an early move to apply humanoid robotics within CEA, a field that has conventionally relied mainly on fixed-function automation. UBTECH’s Walker S, typically used in manufacturing and logistics, is being introduced into Agroz’s vertical farms to perform tasks that combine physical handling with digital oversight through Agroz OS.
This signals an exploration of adaptable robotic platforms that can operate within existing farm layouts and address persistent labour and workflow constraints. While the deployment is still in a pilot phase, it reflects growing regional interest in technology enabled food production. Its success will depend on whether humanoid robots can operate reliably, economically, and at scale in biologically dynamic agricultural environments.