'Joseon Ganguk' Korea's New Weapon... Neuromecha-HD Hyundai Samho Join Hands to Develop AI Robots for Ships

NeuroMeca, a specialist in robot automation, announced on the 20th that it has been selected for the national project "Development of AI Autonomous Manufacturing System for Complex Ship Curved Block Production Process," led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, together with the global shipbuilding company HD Hyundai Samho.

HD Hyundai Samho has been implementing NeuroMeca's welding robot solutions since last year. Taking this national project selection as an opportunity, the two companies have agreed to collaborate as joint research partners for about three years. Through this, they are expected to maintain a strong partnership continuously following last year and lead innovation and competitiveness enhancement in the shipbuilding industry.

The ship's "curved block" refers to blocks with curved surfaces such as the bow and stern outer plates, and welding work is one of the key processes that determine ship quality. Curved block welding is considered one of the most challenging tasks. So far, automation using robots has not been achieved in this area. The national project is being promoted to solve this difficult problem and further strengthen the competitiveness of the shipbuilding industry.

NeuroMeca participates as a joint research institute in the R&D, while HD Hyundai Samho leads the project as the principal research institute. The main research goals are to develop ▲a 5-axis lightweight collaborative robot for welding applicable to ship large assembly curved block processes ▲a quadruped autonomous mobile robot ▲a standard Android-based integrated remote control teach pendant ▲and an artificial intelligence (AI) process optimization system.

The AI process optimization system is an innovative solution that uses AI-based vision technology to set optimal ship assembly process conditions, detect defects, and predict welding quality. The R&D will be conducted over about three years until December 2027.

Through the R&D, NeuroMeca plans to launch a world-class lightweight collaborative robot model weighing less than 10kg in total and equip it with enhanced portability and welding-specialized functions. This model was developed as a lightweight collaborative robot with about 2kg less payload compared to existing robots, at the active request of HD Hyundai Samho, which operates welding robots on-site. NeuroMeca plans to expand its presence in the domestic and international collaborative robot markets in the welding field through this development.

HD Hyundai Samho expects to increase productivity, secure safety, and respond to labor crises such as the shortage of skilled welders by introducing AI vision technology-based rail-free lightweight collaborative robots. Additionally, by establishing integrated control management using a digital twin system, it aims to enhance the competitiveness of the shipbuilding industry and promote regional talent acquisition and economic revitalization.

NeuroMeca has shown performance surpassing Denmark's Universal Robots (UR), the global No.1 company, and domestic company Rainbow Robotics in terms of sales in supplying collaborative robots to HD Hyundai Samho's Yeongam shipyard in Jeollanam-do. It is also projected to have ranked first in sales share in the domestic collaborative robot market last year.

HD Hyundai Samho aims for domestic sales exceeding 2.8 trillion KRW by 2030 after completing the R&D. NeuroMeca expects sales of about 30 billion KRW or more in the domestic and international ship welding markets by 2027.

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