"50 Trillion Won Market in 10 Years"…The Era of Delivery Robots, Koo Kwang-mo's Team Also Sets Its Eyes

Indoor and outdoor integrated delivery robot developed by LG Electronics (Photo by LG Electronics)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] LG Electronics, which has positioned artificial intelligence (AI) and robots alongside electric vehicles as pillars of its future business, is accelerating its entry into the delivery robot market. The autonomous delivery robot market is rapidly growing due to the surge in contactless demand caused by COVID-19, emerging as a new blue ocean.

According to industry sources on the 10th, LG Electronics plans to conduct technology reviews and product verification for the commercialization of delivery robots by the end of this year, followed by pilot operations. If the commercialization potential of delivery robots, currently being promoted under the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), is deemed viable, the company plans to transfer the project to the Business Solutions (BS) division to create profitable business areas.

Earlier, LG Electronics unveiled an integrated indoor and outdoor delivery robot at the 18th International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots 2021 held last month in Gangneung. This platform was developed following last year’s indoor delivery robot, enabling robot navigation both inside and outside buildings. An LG Electronics official said, "We led all processes from research and development (R&D) to the final product."

Recently, LG Electronics announced it will form a consortium with the University of Toronto in Canada and others to conduct a project researching AI technology capable of more accurately recognizing objects, with a planned R&D investment of 3 billion KRW over the next five years. This project aims to develop AI algorithms that analyze diverse data obtained under adverse weather conditions from sensors such as cameras, radar, and lidar, which are core components of autonomous driving, expected to enhance the performance of autonomous delivery robots.

LG Electronics stated, "As demand for contactless services increases, the delivery robot market is also growing rapidly," adding, "Once integrated indoor and outdoor delivery robots are commercialized, various delivery tasks will become simpler, leading to a revolutionary transformation in logistics."

Global companies are also competing to secure market dominance. For example, Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce company, conducted a pilot delivery service using autonomous robots in Washington, USA, in 2019. Recently, it filed patents related to systems that equip delivery trucks with small robots to transport goods to destinations. International delivery companies such as FedEx, automobile companies like Ford, and domestic and foreign IT and logistics firms have also introduced delivery robots.

According to U.S. market research firm Lux Research, the delivery robot market is expected to grow to 50 trillion KRW by 2030 due to the effects of contactless services and e-commerce demand. It is also anticipated that robots will handle 20% of the total delivery volume.

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