Incheon City Selected for Consecutive Robot Contest Projects... Robot Demonstrations at Bupyeong Station and Underground Shopping Mall

Demonstration of AI and 5G-Based Robot Convergence Model... Discovery of Public Service Robot Operation Model
Manufacturing Robot Plus... Improving Working Conditions and Productivity for SMEs

Robots have been introduced into the manufacturing processes of small and medium-sized enterprises, assembling machine parts.
[Photo by Incheon City]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City, having been consecutively selected for government-sponsored robot projects, will accelerate support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in adopting robots and the demonstration of specialized robots.

The city announced on the 23rd that Incheon Technopark and local companies jointly participated and were selected for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's 'Manufacturing Robot Plus Project' and 'AI·5G-based Large-scale Robot Convergence Model Demonstration Project.' The total national funding secured through these projects amounts to 1.52 billion KRW.

The AI·5G-based Large-scale Robot Convergence Model Demonstration Project supports the demonstration of robot convergence models targeting public facilities closely related to citizens, such as hospitals, airports, railways, and large supermarkets, to solve social problems and enhance public convenience.

With a total project budget of 1.9 billion KRW, including 950 million KRW in national funding, the robot demonstration project will be conducted over two years starting this year at Bupyeong Station and the underground shopping mall in Incheon.

Incheon Technopark, Incheon Transit Corporation, and Korea Electronics Technology Institute will participate to demonstrate various services using 15 robots of five types?guidance robots, delivery robots, baking robots, surveillance and reconnaissance robots, and wearable robots?all based on 5G communication networks.

The demonstration hubs, Bupyeong Station and the underground shopping mall, are the first urban railway transfer stations in Incheon where Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 1 and Incheon Metro Line 1 intersect. Before COVID-19, more than 80,000 people used the station daily, and over 1,400 stores operate there as a single entity.

Since the underground shopping mall was registered in the Guinness World Records in 2014 as the world's largest, the city judged Bupyeong Station as the optimal site for the project.

The Manufacturing Robot Plus Project supports the introduction of robot systems into manufacturing processes for local SMEs struggling to secure skilled labor due to a declining workforce caused by aging.

With a project budget of 1.07 billion KRW (570 million KRW in national funding), Incheon Technopark, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, and local companies will jointly carry out the tasks.

The main processes where robots will be introduced include automobile body welding, semiconductor mold inspection, reducer inspection, injection molding cutting, and injection molding polishing. Robots will replace workers in harsh manufacturing environments that workers typically avoid.

Previously, from 2018 to last year, the city supported 41 small and medium manufacturing companies with 30 million KRW each, successfully implementing robot system adoption in production sites.

With this recent selection in the government project, the city expects to expand support for ongoing projects to prevent industrial accidents in small and medium manufacturing sites, improve corporate productivity, and expand the robot market size, thereby revitalizing the robot industry.

An Incheon city official stated, "Robots are gaining attention as a solution to labor shortages caused by low birth rates and aging, as well as the increasing demand for non-face-to-face services," and added, "We will actively participate in government-sponsored and proposed projects to discover public service robot operation models that citizens can experience."

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