We're here for the Shandong Robot Spring Festival Gala! Direct Drive Tech’s D1 takes the stage, unlocking ultimate flexibility through modular design and swarm control technology.-Direct Drive Tech

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We're here for the Shandong Robot Spring Festival Gala! Direct Drive Tech’s D1 takes the stage, unlocking ultimate flexibility through modular design and swarm control technology.

July 15, 2026

When the festive drumbeats of the Year of the Horse met cutting-edge technology, and when intangible cultural heritage acrobatics collided with robotics, a spectacular cross-over event blending traditional Lunar New Year spirit with a futuristic vibe came to a successful conclusion.

On February 14, the 2026 Shandong Robot Spring Festival Gala staged a stunning performance at the Jining Grand Theatre. Centered on the theme of "human-robot synergy" and featuring top domestic robotics enterprises, the event showcased a variety of highly skilled robots performing and interacting with the audience, unlocking a fresh, multifaceted Lunar New Year experience. During the eighth act, titled *Tan San Cai* (Three-Colored Jar Acrobatics), Direct Drive Tech made a spectacular appearance with the D1—the world’s first fully modular embodied AI robot—performing alongside the accomplished Jining Acrobatic Troupe. Thanks to its unique modular, reconfigurable design and leading integrated joint module technology, the robot became a highlight of the show, demonstrating a breakthrough in agility and showcasing the formidable strength of China's core robotics technology to a global audience.

**A fusion of human and machine presents Tan Sancai: A groundbreaking collision of technology and award-winning acrobatics.**

"Tan San Cai" (Three-Color Jars) is a signature production by the Jining Acrobatic Troupe that blends the Yellow River region's traditional "jar-juggling" folk art with modern acrobatic innovation. Renowned for original, high-difficulty maneuvers—such as "catching a jar tossed from a three-tier stack" and "foot-looping three jars while balancing on two tiers"—the act has garnered international acclaim, winning the Gold Award at the 2024 Nikulin "Artist" International Circus Festival in Russia and the "Special Honor Award" at the 22nd Val-d'Oise International Circus Festival in France. Its appearance at the Shandong Robot Spring Festival Gala marks a groundbreaking evolution: a cross-disciplinary fusion of elite acrobatic artistry and cutting-edge robotics that preserves the essence of traditional folk skills while infusing them with a technologically innovative form of expression.

On the "Tan San Cai" stage, the Benmo Tech D1 robot seems imbued with the "soul of porcelain," acting as the performers' most seamless partner. Carrying three jars, the robot switches fluidly between four-wheeled and two-wheeled modes and autonomously disassembles and reassembles itself; it precisely meets the collaborative needs of the acrobatic routine without interfering with the performers' movements. When a performer leans forward and raises a hand to signal, the D1 responds instantly, weaving nimbly among the artists with perfect timing and coordination.

Modular, interconnectable design: Reimagining robotic "form flexibility" to meet the needs of any scenario.

The "morphological transformation" demonstrated by the D1 on stage serves as a vivid showcase of the advantages inherent in its modular, connectable design, while also reflecting Direct Drive Tech's profound understanding of "morphological freedom" in robotics. As the world’s first fully modular embodied AI robot, the D1 breaks through the limitations of fixed forms found in traditional robots, establishing a core competitive edge defined by "on-demand reconfiguration and flexible adaptability."
- **Full-form connectivity:** It enables various collaborative configurations—such as wheel-leg to wheel-leg, legged to legged, or wheel-leg to legged—allowing for rapid switching based on situational needs. This flexibility was demonstrated in the performance *Tan Sancai*, where the robot’s form was dynamically adjusted to suit different segments of the show.
- **Highly compatible expansion:** Featuring an open interface design, the D1 can flexibly integrate vision modules, communication modules, and various sensors. This versatility meets the precise interaction requirements of stage performances while also supporting customized tasks across diverse fields such as industrial inspection and emergency rescue.
- **Efficient collaborative operation:** Powered by Direct Drive Tech’s proprietary "universal cerebellum" technology, connected modules can coordinate their force output at the millisecond level. Even when separated, the units maintain precise coordination, achieving operational efficiency where the combined output exceeds the sum of the individual parts ("1+1 > 2").
At the heart of this modular design lies Direct Drive Tech's dedicated development of a "universal robotic chassis." While traditional robots are often engineered for specific scenarios—entailing high R&D costs and limited adaptability—the D1’s modular architecture enables the reuse of core modules and flexible expansion across scenarios. This significantly reduces R&D and deployment costs, laying the groundwork for mass production.

Dual Empowerment: Breaking Through Flexibility Limits and Redefining the Boundaries of Robot Motion

The D1 robot’s modular, reconfigurable design and Direct Drive Tech’s proprietary integrated robotic drive modules complement and reinforce one another, ultimately achieving a breakthrough in the robot's agility.

The seamless collaboration between Direct Drive Tech’s D1 and the Jining Acrobatic Troupe in the performance *Tan Sancai* (Three-Colored Jar) validates the technical synergy of "modular design plus integrated joint modules." This combination enables the robot not only to execute standardized tasks but also to adapt to personalized human-robot collaboration scenarios. In its quadrupedal configuration, the D1 offers superior stability and load-bearing capacity, allowing it to coordinate with acrobats on dynamic, large-scale movements; in its bipedal configuration, its compact form enables it to navigate stage corners nimbly and engage in precise interactions.

This leap in agility represents a precise implementation of the "Embodied AI" concept by Direct Drive Tech. The modular design constructs a flexible "body," while the integrated joint modules create a precise "motor nervous system," allowing each module to possess independent decision-making capabilities while simultaneously enabling swarm-like coordination.

Compared to traditional robots, the D1’s breakthrough in agility is evident in two key areas: first, an increase in degrees of freedom—modular assembly allows for diverse movement configurations, while the high-precision control of the joint modules ensures that every action is accurate and fluid, enabling complex maneuvers such as turning, obstacle avoidance, and jumping. Second, enhanced environmental adaptability—whether on the flat stage of the Spring Festival Gala or across complex outdoor terrain, the D1 flexibly adapts to the demands of different environments through configuration switching and joint adjustments.

The convergence of technology and art

The 2026 Shandong Robot Spring Festival Gala not only treated the audience to a spectacular fusion of technology and art but also showcased cutting-edge breakthroughs in Chinese robotics. From the innovative modular, reconfigurable design of the D1 robot to the robust performance of its integrated joint modules and its vastly improved agility, Direct Drive Tech has used technological innovation to shatter conventional perceptions of robots.

Embodied AI is currently emerging as a core driving force behind a new wave of technological and industrial transformation, with modularity, integration, and swarm control technologies serving as key breakthroughs for the development of embodied AI robots. Through continuous innovation, Direct Drive Tech has integrated these three core technologies into its product development, enabling robots to transition from the gala stage to diverse real-world applications—spanning households, industry, logistics, and healthcare. Looking ahead, Direct Drive Tech remains committed to deepening its expertise in core robotics technologies; by collaborating with partners across the industry chain, the company aims to drive the mass production of embodied AI robots and foster the healthy growth of the entire robotics industry.

News

A fusion of human and machine presents *Tan Sancai*: A groundbreaking collision of technology and award-winning acrobatics.

Modular, interconnectable design: Reimagining robotic "form flexibility" to meet the needs of any scenario.

Dual Empowerment: Breaking Through Flexibility Limits and Redefining the Boundaries of Robot Motion

The convergence of technology and art

**A fusion of human and machine presents Tan Sancai: A groundbreaking collision of technology and award-winning acrobatics.**