Intelligent systems are replacing people in the heaviest tasks: unloading, grain leveling, and patrolling. China is betting on a new generation of "smart" elevators.

As reported by CCTV+, this report shows how high technology is arriving where everything used to rely on physical strength. Now, here are the details of this story about silence, cleanliness, and robots.

Intelligent robots and automated systems are increasingly being deployed to perform the most physically demanding tasks at China's grain depots, replacing manual labor in unloading, leveling, and safety inspections.

At the Renhe grain depot in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, eastern China, the transformation is already in full swing. Where workers once manually carried grain sacks, climbed silos, and cleaned dust, a new generation of intelligent equipment has now appeared.

At the depot's inland port terminal along the Grand Canal, a cargo ship has just docked. A large grain suction tube reaches into the hold, lifting wheat like water and transporting it directly into storage facilities through sealed pipelines.

From unloading to storage, not a single grain spills out, and the work area remains virtually dust-free. Despite continuous loading and unloading operations, the area is surprisingly quiet — a sharp contrast to the noise and chaos traditionally associated with grain handling.

"The entire grain processing system operates within fully enclosed pipelines, ensuring smooth operation regardless of weather conditions and thus strengthening our emergency supply capabilities," said Ma Guojun, director of the depot's storage and transportation department.

The modernization extends beyond unloading. Working in coordination with the grain suction system are terminal elevators, roof-mounted grain distributors, and hydraulic grain turners. These advanced machines operate in synergy, ensuring round-the-clock seamless operation and significantly improving efficiency and throughput.

Once a batch of grain enters the warehouse, another historically labor-intensive task — leveling the grain pile — has now been delegated to robots. Previously, workers had to descend several meters into grain piles to manually move and redistribute the contents, a tedious and dangerous process. Today, this critical work is performed by "leveling robots."

The latest second-generation model, introduced just one year after its predecessor, features a more elegant design and substantially improved performance.

"Power has increased, performance has improved, and battery life has significantly extended. Our second-generation robots can now operate for about eight hours on a single charge," said Ma Luyao, head of the technical team for leveling robots at the grain depot.

The Renhe grain depot, covering an area of more than 600 mu (approximately 40 hectares), uses intelligent surveillance to ensure safety and smooth operations. A four-legged "robot dog" has become an indispensable patrolling assistant, capable of autonomous navigation and real-time anomaly detection.

During an on-site demonstration, when a person entered a designated area requiring a hard hat without proper protective equipment, the robot dog immediately responded with a clear voice alert.

As China continues to advance its agricultural modernization strategy, the integration of robotics and AI-based systems into grain logistics represents an important step toward building a more resilient, efficient, and stable national food reserve network.

"By focusing on the comprehensive development of green and intelligent technologies, we are building grain depots that are safe, environmentally friendly, and 'smart,' ensuring the freshness of every grain. The new qualitative productive forces hold enormous potential for ensuring our food security and have already given new momentum to our future development," said Zhang Zhongjie, chief scientist at the Academy of National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration.