The robot can patrol automatically for 24 hours, and is able to adapt to different environments on pig farms. "Raising pigs used to rely on farmers' experience; now it relies on data," said Wang Ke, vice-president of the company, adding that the platform weaves together AI, algorithms and internet of things devices into a connected network.

　　Every detail, including those that evade the human eye, can be detected. All physical indicators, such as feeding, time spent lying, cough frequency and skin changes; environmental data such as carbon dioxide content and ammonia concentration; as well as other data such as unauthorized personnel or small animals entering restricted zones, and compliance with disinfection procedures, are collected.

　　Together, these metrics form a livestock health profile. "They transform disease early-warning, ventilation adjustment, feeding tuning and other processes, which were once based purely on experiential judgment, into quantifiable and traceable data-driven decisions," Chen said.

　　The company's AI box is connected to cameras and sensors, and records data before uploading to the cloud. It has been used in about 1,200 farms across the country, involving the raising of pigs, ducks, chickens and fish.

　　Its robots have been applied in 67 farms across eight provinces. The cost for the system ranges anywhere from 280,000 yuan ($42,000) to more than 1 million yuan, based on the number of pigs and devices being deployed.

　　Chen envisions workers shifting from manual laborers to collaborators with intelligent systems. "Previously, manual pen inspections three times a day took four hours in total, and now workers only need to verify 10 high-priority alerts pushed by AI. In the past, sow estrus was judged by experience, while breeding is now scheduled based on hormone-fluctuation curves generated by algorithms," he said.