LG, Hyundai join forces to advance robot-friendly buildings

Officials from Hyundai Motor Group and LG Uplus hold up their partnership agreement on co-developing communication infrastructure for robot-friendly buildings in Seoul on Wednesday. (LG Uplus)

LG Uplus and Hyundai Motor Group have teamed up to develop an ecosystem of communication infrastructure for robot-friendly buildings to secure core technologies required for automation, the companies said Monday.

According to the announcement, the mobile carrier and automaker agreed to collaborate in crafting total solutions for robotics, such as providing communication services tailored for robots and developing standard and certification systems that can assess robot-friendly buildings’ level of communication ability.

The collaboration’s example of envisioned robot-friendly buildings allows vehicles to park and charge automatically and robots to deliver packages to each recipient’s seat.

As the demand for smart offices built with robot-friendliness increases, LG Uplus said it plans to preoccupy a new market based on its accumulated technology in the mobility sector.

The mobile carrier will look to secure new demands and expand relevant businesses as it offers a various product portfolio for service robot communication, boasts high stability that prevents disconnection from moving up and down the floors and operates communication equipment and infrastructures that support ultra-low latency to create a quick remote control environment.

“LG Uplus has achieved consecutive milestones in the mobility sector, which is a core aspect of strengthening the competitiveness in the (business-to-business) area in the future,” said Lim Jang-hyuk, senior vice president at LG Uplus.

“Based on the experience of providing communication in various mobility fields such as connected cars, (Cooperative-Intelligent Transport Systems) and autonomous driving, we will form a new ecosystem of robot-friendly buildings by offering communication exclusively for robot mobility through cooperation with Hyundai Motor and Kia Robotics Lab.”

Hyundai Motor Group has set out a lofty goal for its Robotics Lab, which will take the lead in collaboration with the mobile carrier, to account for 20 percent of the conglomerate’s total sales in the mid-to-long term. The lab has developed seven products including wearable robots, service robots and a mobile robot.

By Kan Hyeong-woo(hwkan@heraldcorp.com)