14 DAY TRIAL // The story of Wu Yulu is not that of the average Chinese farmer. While others were out on the fields, going about their businesses, Yulu remained indoors to work on different types of robots, which he endowed with various abilities, from pulling rickshaws to pouring tea and changing light bulbs. In the process, he burned his farm down one time, almost got left by his wife, and accumulated a debt of over $7,400. However, once the media got hold of him, his financial troubles started to diminish a bit and his wife returned.
The 42 year-old father of two is now employed with several companies, and also collaborates with various universities in China, working on robotics programs. But the most amazing part about his story is the fact that he never got around to finishing secondary school, which means that he has the most limited amount of knowledge from all the people he's working with. But seeing how he became such a robotics fan, and built them with nothing more than pieces of trash, he earned their respect.
Thus far, all the mechanical units Yulu constructed are designed to help around the yard, and he says that his latest model, a tall robot designed to pull rickshaws, is a very useful thing to have around the house on a rainy day, when you don't want to get your feet wet on account of puddles. In addition, the robot has a weird-sounding voice, as well as flapping years, and pulls his burden saying "I'm a rickshaw-pulling robot. Wu Yulu is my Dad, I take him out about town."
"When we got married, everyone warned me he would care more about his robots than about me, but on the other hand, at least he doesn't drink or chase other women," said Dong Shuyan, Yulu's wife, who was warned about the man she was going to marry. She added that her husband behaves "child-like" when around robots, with great enthusiasm and commitment.
"He has so much talent, he should at least be able to make some money out of it," Shuyan said, adding that Yulu already made about $300 from selling a mechanical grasshopper to an unspecified company.