The key to commercializing humanoid robots is how reliably they can perform tasks at actual industrial sites. Robots must be deployed on the floor to accumulate data, not merely refined in technical terms, according to Noh Seung-joon, CEO of Robros.
"The humanoid revolution will happen first in manufacturing and logistics," Noh said in an interview with The Seoul Economic Daily on the 13th at the company's headquarters in Seoul's Seongdong District. "Once we accumulate enough data and secure price competitiveness, the scope of application will widen to services and homes."
Robros develops Egris-C, a bipedal humanoid robot. The company supplies robots to industrial sites under a full-stack strategy, developing everything from hardware to artificial intelligence in-house. "Technology that integrates control of the robot's entire body is essential to sharpen its work capability and accumulate field data," Noh said. "By combining whole-body integrated control with bipedal walking, we are delivering the performance needed for real tasks while moving freely around industrial sites."
Robros is targeting manufacturing and logistics first. The company reasons that because many tasks are similar across industries, technology and data gathered at one site can be applied at others. "In the pilot project with Lotte Global Logistics that began early this year, we raised the technology to a level where the robot can carry out target tasks with minimal human intervention," Noh said. Robros has sold 18 Egris-C units so far and plans to raise cumulative output to more than 50 by the end of the year.
The company is also upgrading its technology to handle sites with demanding conditions, such as shipyards and semiconductor plants. Robots must operate reliably amid the extreme temperature swings, dust and welding work of shipyards and the chemicals used in chip plants. "Raising heat resistance and waterproof and dustproof performance to the levels industrial sites demand is what humanoids need on the hardware side," Noh added.
Noh plans to expand into the service and home robot markets on the strength of the technology built in manufacturing. Robros originally started as a "robot cafe" business. "We introduced a cafe using humanoids, but manufacturers showed more interest than service companies, so we shifted the business toward manufacturing," Noh said. "If we advance robot technology and data in manufacturing, humanoids can also be used in services and in homes."
Noh said South Korea's manufacturing base will become a competitive strength for the humanoid industry. "Korea has a solid manufacturing base, which gives it a favorable environment for advancing the technology by applying humanoids at actual industrial sites," he said. "We will enter the global market on the competitiveness we secure in the domestic manufacturing market."