KT signs self-driving delivery robot deal with Yandex SDG

KT has signed a business agreement with the Yandex Self Driving Group (SDG), a subsidiary of Moscow's Yandex, to co-develop self-driving delivery robots in Korea by the end of this year, the telecom company said on Tuesday. Under the agreement ..

KT has signed a business agreement with the Yandex Self Driving Group (SDG), a subsidiary of Moscow's Yandex, to co-develop self-driving delivery robots in Korea by the end of this year. At left is Dmitry Polishchuk, CEO of Yandex and at right, Song Jae-ho, Vice President of KT’s AI/DX Convergence business division. [KT]

KT has signed a business agreement with the Yandex Self Driving Group (SDG), a subsidiary of Moscow's Yandex, to co-develop self-driving delivery robots in Korea by the end of this year, the telecom company said on Tuesday.

Under the agreement, KT and Yandex SDG will develop robots that will be able to deliver goods without human drivers and software related to operating and managing self-driving robots.

KT will use its expertise in software and networking for robots, while Yandex SDG will provide its self-driving robotics technology.

Yandex SDG has been focusing on self-driving vehicles and presented its Yandex.Rover in 2019.

"We plan to expand the agreement to other business areas in the tech field," KT said in a statement.

"The demand for last-mile delivery in Korea is one of the highest in the world and continues to grow," said Dmitry Polishchuk, CEO of Yandex SDG. "Our robots will help automate the delivery process, providing businesses with a reliable and cost-effective solution."

KT staffers work on the testbed for automated industrial robots using the 5G network for the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement (Kiria). [KT]

The Korean telecom company has recently been accelerating its robotics efforts.

KT said on Sunday that it will be establishing a testbed for automated industrial robots using the 5G network for the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement (Kiria) as a part of a 47.5 billion won ($39.9 million) project that begins this year.

The telecom company has won the contract to set the foundations of the testbed facility, which will be built inside Kiria's research complex in Daegu, and more companies will take part in the future. KT did not disclose the size of the deal.

The testbed will be used to test industrial robots in an environment built to match that of factories to see how they would function on site.

The telecom company will provide the robots, the operating software, 5G equipment and other software such as holograms and virtual reality (VR) gadgets to be used in the testbed.

The robots will include those built for manufacturing, as well as those for other purposes, such as self-driving robots. The hologram and VR technology will be used to set up a digital simulation program to see how the equipment will function in various situations.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]