Naver to debut new OS for robots at Saudi tech show

Naver Labs Executive Officer Peck Jong-yoon (left) and Naver Cloud General Leader Kim Hyo speak at a press briefing held at Naver 1784 headquarters building in Gyeonggi Province on Tuesday. (Naver)

Korean internet giant Naver said Tuesday that it is debuting the world’s first web platform-enabled operating system for robots, called “Arc mind,” at this week’s LEAP 2024, a tech trade show held in Saudi Arabia.

The company said the new platform combines the web platform technology of Naver Cloud’s Whale and the robotics software technology of Naver Labs.

"Team Naver has continuously expanded its tech portfolio from web platform to robotics software by developing and operating Whale browser, Whale OS, and the multi-robot intelligence system Arc (AI-Robot-Cloud). Such technical capabilities became the basis for Arc mind, which converges advanced technologies of the future," Naver Cloud General Leader Kim Hyo said at a press briefing in Seoul on Tuesday.

"Arc mind will create the optimal environment to develop and provide a wider variety of robots and robotic services to future cities. This will open up a new field of robotics to web developers around the world and speed up the mass adoption of robotics in our everyday lives."

Peck Jong-yoon, Naver Labs executive officer, also explained how its new OS aims to compete with Robot Operating System, the widely used open-source robotics OS.

"We do want to build a new ecosystem similar to Android, but it's not the same. The difference is that it is not creating an entirely new OS, but using the existing web platform. Web platforms are universal and it is excellent in compatibility and productivity,” Peck said.

To introduce a new service like a payment system for a delivery robot, the developers would have to start from scratch on most occasions. But with Arc mind, they can use existing payment systems such as Naver Pay to speed up the overall development process.

Naver said it plans to implement Arc mind on its own robots first, with the ultimate plan of expanding it to a fully open ecosystem.

At LEAP 2024 running from Monday to Thursday, Naver Labs CEO Seok Sang-ok plans to deliver a keynote speech, titled “Tech Convergence for Future Cities,” and the company has set up an exhibition booth to showcase its latest technologies such as digital twin, AI, cloud and Arc mind.

The firm also plans to debut a new robotics platform, called Robotics Edge Computing Platform, a collaboration with Samsung Electronics. The new platform combines Samsung’s chip solutions and Naver’s software in a bid to accelerate the wider adoption of cooperative robots, the company added.

By Jo He-rim(herim@heraldcorp.com)