Seoul City Launches First Robot Logistics Pilot Project in Government Building... Appoints 'No.1 Robot Officer'

Document and Parcel Handling, Building Guidance by 'Robot Jumu-gwan'... Temporary Official ID Also Issued
Robots Called via Dedicated Application with Real-Time Location and Delivery Status Tracking

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City announced on the 22nd that it will officially launch a robot logistics demonstration project starting with the Seoul City Hall building. The city appointed the first robot clerk, "Robogwan (Robot + Clerk)," assigned roles such as document (parcel) delivery and building guidance, planning to showcase advanced technology using City Hall as a testbed.

Currently, robot delivery demonstrations mainly involve horizontal movement of food deliveries from restaurants to nearby building entrances. However, the robot logistics demonstration project within Seoul City Hall features a three-dimensional movement and delivery model where robots independently use elevators to move across various floors. Robogwan will navigate throughout the main office to handle tasks such as document delivery.

This introduction of Robogwan is the first domestic case of deploying logistics robots beyond simple guidance functions within government offices, expanding the application of robot technology?previously developed mainly in the private sector?into public administration (office work). It is expected to serve as an opportunity to enhance the efficiency of public administration by applying advanced private-sector technology in the public domain.

Seoul City decided to conduct the autonomous logistics delivery demonstration project in cooperation with Robotis, selected through an open recruitment earlier this year. Seoul City provides the main office as a robot testbed space, while Robotis supplies the robots free of charge during the demonstration period.

The working hours of the robot Robogwan are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., starting work immediately upon arrival. From 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., it supports interdepartmental document transfer tasks. Previously, mail had to be collected in person, but by calling Robogwan through a dedicated app developed for robot delivery, documents are automatically delivered to the respective departments. Additionally, the app allows real-time tracking of Robogwan’s location and delivery status, enhancing convenience.

From the afternoon, Robogwan begins guiding visitors and delivering regular mail. In particular, it assists citizens visiting City Hall by providing directions, and visitors can encounter Robogwan navigating the building. From 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., Robogwan accompanies visitors to guide them to departments, and from 2 p.m., it delivers various regular mail arriving at the Seoul City document room to each department. Robogwan can deliver documents to approximately 30 to 40 offices over four hours.

Seoul City plans to conduct the first demonstration period until the end of this year to check safety issues and unexpected situations, then extend the demonstration period next year. During the demonstration, a guide staff will accompany Robogwan at all times to handle safety and emergency situations. In the future, the city will explore expanding robot applications to areas such as nighttime patrols and improve various cases and trial-and-error experiences during the demonstration to increase usability in administrative fields.

Baek Ho, Director of Seoul City’s Urban Transportation Office, said, “In the public sector, robot technology has lower utilization compared to the private sector due to various regulations for facility safety and building security. Overcoming these constraints, we aim to verify the potential of logistics robots and identify improvements through Seoul City’s first robot clerk ‘Robogwan,’ which was introduced after thorough preparation, thereby accelerating technological advancement.”

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