Kumoh National Institute of Technology Students Win Gold Prize at 2025 International Invention Exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany

Graduate students Kim Beomseok, Sung Eunchong, and Woo Chanmin from the Department of Mechanical Engineering
Development of the "Omni-bogie Transform Robot"
Kumoh National Institute of Technology RISE Project Group supports participation in iENA 2025

Graduate students from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Kumoh National Institute of Technology (President: Kwak Hosang), affiliated with the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory (supervising professor: Joo Baekseok), won the Gold Prize in the university division at the '2025 International Trade Fair for Ideas, Inventions, and New Products (iENA 2025)' held in Nuremberg, Germany.

From the left, Seong Eun-chong, Kim Beom-seok, and Woo Chan-min students

iENA 2025 is the largest international exhibition in the field of inventions, and the event took place from November 1 to 3, 2025, at the Nuremberg Exhibition Center in Germany.

The award recipients are Kim Beomseok, Sung Eunchong, and Woo Chanmin, and their team is named 'KIT Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation.'

They developed the 'Omni-bogie Transform Robot,' a robot with an omnidirectional bogie structure that can move freely both indoors and outdoors without environmental constraints, earning them the Gold Prize.

Mobile robots used in actual industrial settings are generally classified into two types. The first is the Omni Wheel robot, which enables flexible movement in complex indoor environments. The second is the Rocker-bogie structure robot, which can traverse uneven terrain in disaster environments.

The 'Omni-bogie Transform Robot' developed by the students incorporates both approaches into a single platform. Indoors, it uses four omni wheels for unrestricted movement.

In rough outdoor environments, it operates in a rocker-bogie mode by reconfiguring into two omni wheels. Thanks to this dual-mode structure, it provides both time and cost efficiency in various field operations, eliminating the need to deploy separate robots for different environments.

Additionally, it can be utilized for a wide range of tasks, such as transporting rescue subjects to hospitals during disasters or delivering goods in everyday life.

Kim Beomseok, who led the robot development, said, "I am grateful to my supervising professor, my dedicated teammates, and the university's RISE project group for helping turn the idea of continuously using an omni wheel-created by combining two discs for omnidirectional rotation and vertical movement-through splitting and merging, into a reality."

He added, "It is a great honor to have our robot recognized internationally among a gathering of global companies and innovative ideas. Moving forward, I hope to develop robots that can be used in various industrial fields-such as rescue, exploration, and transport-without environmental limitations."

Meanwhile, the Kumoh National Institute of Technology RISE Project Group (acting director: Kwon Ohyung) supported participation in the iENA 2025 competition. This year, more than 540 inventions from 21 countries were exhibited at the event.

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