LG Electronics "Partnering with Woowa Brothers to Revitalize Domestic Robot Industry"

Three Companies Sign Business Agreement for the '2020 Service Robot Utilization Demonstration Project'

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] LG Electronics announced on the 12th that it has joined hands with Woowa Brothers and the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement to revitalize the domestic robot industry.

The three companies recently signed an agreement as part of the ‘Service Robot Utilization Demonstration Project’ to introduce ‘customized serving and dish return automation autonomous driving robots for domestic dining establishments’ and have begun full-scale development.

The ‘Service Robot Utilization Demonstration Project’ is a program by the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement that selects certain tasks to support with project funds to activate the domestic service robot market. The task submitted by the consortium formed by LG Electronics and Woowa Brothers was selected as a demonstration project task this year.

LG Electronics and Woowa Brothers plan to jointly develop a serving robot solution specialized for domestic dining establishments by November and utilize this serving robot in Woowa Brothers’ robot rental business.

Through this collaboration, the three companies plan to strengthen their robot technology capabilities and actively promote robot localization. They will also explore ways to expand the application of the developed robots.

In February, LG Electronics and Woowa Brothers signed a business agreement to cooperate on delivery and serving robot-related businesses. LG Electronics will combine its robot development capabilities, built on core technologies such as artificial intelligence and indoor autonomous driving, with the know-how accumulated by Woowa Brothers through operating service platforms like ‘Baedal Minjok’ to jointly develop various robots.

Moon Jeon-il, President of the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement, said, “We hope that the serving robots will improve the business environment of domestic dining establishments and the working conditions of employees, and especially serve as a key part of contactless services amid the spread of COVID-19, benefiting restaurant owners, employees, and customers alike.”

Yoon Hyun-joon, Head of New Business Division at Woowa Brothers, said, “Since Woowa Brothers became the first in Korea to commercialize serving robots last November, 85 serving robots are currently operating in 68 restaurants nationwide and have received positive responses from customers. Through the Service Robot Utilization Demonstration Project with the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement and LG Electronics, we will accelerate the development of robots that can be even more helpful in our daily lives.”

No Jin-seo, Head of LG Electronics Robot Business Center, said, “We will strengthen competitiveness by developing robots suited to domestic conditions and increasing product utilization. We will also contribute to robot localization through continuous research and development.”

Meanwhile, LG Electronics regards robots as a key future business and is developing various robots ranging from commercial to home use while continuously seeking new business opportunities. So far, it has introduced a total of 10 types of robots, including two types of SuitBots, guide robots, cleaning robots, home robots, lawn mowing robots, sub-bots, porter bots, cart bots, and chef bots.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.