Recruiting Companies to Collaborate on Robot Demonstration Projects at Testbed Hub Gangnam

Discovering Robot Services Needed in Gangnam-gu and Proactively Supporting Pilot Projects for Robot Companies' Growth... Applications Open Until June 19, Selecting 5 Companies with Up to 40 Million KRW Funding and Opportunities for Pilot Testing Using Public Infrastructure

Gangnam-gu (District Mayor Jo Seong-myeong), in collaboration with the Robot Convergence Research Institute and the Korea Robot Industry Association, is promoting the "1st Gangnam-gu Administrative Demand Customized Robot Testbed Contest" and is recruiting participating companies from May 23 to June 19.

Last July, Gangnam-gu became the first local government in the country to enact an ordinance for the fostering and support of the robot industry, and is advancing robot industry support policies aimed at building a robot-friendly city.

In line with this purpose, this contest, held for the first time this year, is a public-private cooperation project that discovers public robot services and supports robot demonstration projects. In particular, since urban robots can be successfully distributed by supplementing technical and policy issues through demonstrations in complex environments, the district plans to actively provide demonstration environments utilizing public infrastructure.

The recruitment fields include all administrative areas such as ▲administration and civil affairs ▲safety and disaster ▲traffic ▲welfare and daily life ▲energy and environment ▲tourism. This includes robots that collect flyers and fallen leaves, snow removal robots, fire monitoring and patrol robots, recycling sorting robots, book and food & beverage delivery robots, caregiving robots, as well as RPA services (Robotics Process Automation) that automate tasks repeatedly handled by humans using software robots.

The support target is companies capable of implementing actual robot services using robots. The technology readiness level (TRL) should be between stages 6 and 9, and the product (service) must be operable within this year's demonstration period. Applications can be made by individual robot companies or in the form of a consortium led by a robot company.

After selecting 10 companies through the first document screening, a public proposal presentation will be held in August to select the final 5 companies. Selected companies will receive up to 40 million KRW in funding and opportunities for technical demonstration.

The recruitment announcement period is until June 19, and applications will be accepted from June 13 until 6 p.m. on June 19. Detailed information can be found on the district’s official website announcement.

Jo Seong-myeong, Mayor of Gangnam-gu, said, “Gangnam-gu, with its excellent urban infrastructure, is a preferred testbed for many robot companies,” and added, “We will proactively promote contest projects that can support outstanding robot companies to lower the barriers for demonstration projects.” He also stated, “We will activate customized service robots needed in urban areas such as delivery and patrol to improve the quality of life for residents and create a robot-friendly Gangnam.”

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