Hyundai Motor Company, Kia, and Seoul National University, POSTECH, and KIST establish a ‘robotics joint laboratory’
Published date: 2024-10-23 09:45 Updated: 2024-10-23 09:45
From the left, Kim Jong-gyu, head of the POSTECH Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, Seoul National University College of Engineering Dean Professor Kim Young-o, Hyundai Motor and Kia R&D Division President Yang Hee-won, and Kim Ik-jae, director of the AI and Robotics Research Center at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
Hyundai Motor Company and Kia announced on the 23rd that they have established a ‘Robotics Joint Laboratory’ with Seoul National University, POSTECH, and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) with the goal of strengthening the competitiveness of mobile double-arm robot technology and establishing a robot research ecosystem.
The four institutions will operate a joint robotics laboratory with Hyundai NGB, an industry-academia cooperation institution, for the next three years to increase competitiveness by internalizing the technology of mobile double-arm robots and to establish an industry-academia-research cooperation system for robotics research institutes to conduct high-quality robotics research. We agreed to create an ecosystem.
Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Robotics Lab are in charge of the robot hardware field in a joint laboratory. The Robotics Lab plans to strengthen technology so that the robot hand under development can respond to more complex shapes, and will focus on further improving the autonomous movement and task performance of mobile double-armed robots.
Seoul National University is securing recognition technology for robots to manipulate transparent objects such as glass, and is upgrading the software so that it can catch even unregistered objects. In addition, based on an ultra-wide-angle camera, the robot can accurately perceive space, improving its driving ability, and studying control technology that allows the robot’s two arms to cooperate with each other.
POSTECH plans to conduct comprehensive research on the interaction between humans and robots, including developing remote haptic equipment needed when a person remotely controls a robot.
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology is committed to securing various object manipulation recognition technologies, including atypical objects, and is conducting research to ensure that robots can operate efficiently through algorithms that predict and control robot movements in advance.
The joint robotics laboratory is significant not only in the sense that the country’s top robotics research institutes are developing technology together, but also in that it creates a robot research ecosystem. They plan to focus their efforts on securing excellent talent and building an expert network through active joint research.
An official from Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors said, “In the future service robotics market, ‘mobile two-arm robot’ technology that interacts with the environment will play a key role.” He added, “As Korea’s top robotics research institutes cooperate, we will advance technology to expand the diverse service robotics market.” “We will strive to create it,” he said.
Hyundai Motor Group plans to lead the upcoming robotics market by aggressively expanding robot types, technologies, and services.
Reporter Kim Ji-woong [email protected]
