South Korean robot makers are accelerating their push into manufacturing production lines with artificial intelligence-based robots and automation technology. They are widening the range of tasks robots can perform on their own by adding AI to existing automated processes, or linking multiple pieces of equipment to remove human workers from entire production lines. Demand for factory automation is rising — new installations of industrial robots worldwide topped 600,000 units last year for the first time — and the commercialization and application of related technology is expanding along with it.
Neuromeka Expands Factory Trials With Physical AI
Neuromeka has recently been expanding factory trials of robots running Physical Skill Foundation (PSF), a physical AI platform the company developed in-house. PSF lets a robot recognize a work object through a camera and decide on its own the movements needed to pick up or move the item. Previously, engineers had to configure a robot's motions individually for each object. PSF is designed to recognize and handle objects it has not been trained on in advance.
Neuromeka said in June that it had validated the technology by applying a physical AI-based dual-arm collaborative robot to cable insertion and precision assembly processes on an electric motor production line. This month, the company signed a 1.98 billion won ($1.4 million) contract to supply automation equipment to auto parts maker DIC. The project combines an existing gantry loader with an AI collaborative robot on DIC's automotive gear machining line to cut the time needed to reconfigure equipment when the type of part being produced changes.
"Previously, a single robot needed a large amount of auxiliary equipment, such as conveyors and bolt fastening machines, just to do its job," a Neuromeka official said. "With the arrival of physical AI, we have been able to show that a robot arm alone can handle this kind of work." Neuromeka is currently running trials in manufacturing processes including the assembly of automotive exterior parts, and is working toward applying the technology to an actual mass-production line in 2027.
Power Auto Robotics Links Processes to Build Unmanned Factories
Power Auto Robotics is expanding a dark factory business that removes workers from entire plants, built around its i-Series robots, which automatically insert components into printed circuit boards. The i-Series uses cameras to recognize connectors, coils and capacitors of varying shapes and sizes and insert them into PCBs. The company said it has supplied a total of 97 units to 22 customers to date. After building its business mainly around home appliance production lines at Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, it has recently been adding customers in automotive electronics and semiconductors.
The company is developing an automation system that links entire production processes in partnership with four other firms: Power Auto System, Polaris3D, ARA and Wizcore. Power Auto Robotics handles component insertion, Power Auto System soldering, and Polaris3D the movement of materials between processes. ARA's parts recognition and feeding technology and Wizcore's production data integration, analysis and control technology are also part of the system. The five companies demonstrated an automated production line with the actual equipment connected in April and plan to show the solution at Robot World next month.
"At many plants today, equipment is operated separately at each process, and people work in between one machine and the next," a Power Auto Robotics official said. "Robots, AI, logistics and data can be integrated into a single production line, and the scope of unmanned operation can be widened line by line." The company said it is expanding equipment supply as a Samsung Electronics semiconductor partner and is also in talks on introducing new equipment for a semiconductor production line at Samsung Electronics' Onyang campus.
Samhyun Moves Beyond Robot Drive Parts Into Manufacturing and Logistics Automation
Samhyun, a specialist in automotive drive components, is broadening its reach from actuators that move robot joints into finished robots and manufacturing and logistics automation. The company developed Axlon, a humanoid actuator that combines a motor, reducer and controller in a single unit, and has built out a lineup of 12 models. Last month it won an initial mass-production order from a North American humanoid manufacturer, with deliveries set to begin in December.
The company is also pursuing a finished-robot business. Samhyun is developing manufacturing and logistics automation solutions with CSL Robotics, an autonomous driving specialist it acquired last year. Boldum, a heavy-payload autonomous mobile robot developed in-house, can be used to automate the transport of heavy parts and materials inside plants. Samhyun is also developing Hoplon, an open-architecture robot platform whose structure can be reconfigured for different missions. The company said it is pursuing a project to deploy the heavy-payload autonomous mobile robot at a large company based in Changwon and plans to build an actuator mass-production line at a new plant.
The companies plan to showcase the products and technologies at 2026 Robot World, which runs from the 4th to the 7th of next month at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.
