SK Telecom wraps trial of autonomous AI delivery robots

SK Telecom, Korea’s largest mobile carrier, said on Wednesday that it completed a two-month trial of its autonomous delivery robots utilizing its AI infrastructure.

SK Telecom researchers test autonomous delivery robots in the mobile carrier's Pangyo building in Gyeonggi. [SK TELECOM]

SK Telecom, Korea’s largest mobile carrier, said on Wednesday that it completed a two-month trial of its autonomous delivery robots utilizing its AI infrastructure.

The trial was conducted at SK Telecom’s Pangyo building in Gyeonggi from June and tested the accuracy of the robots’ camera sensors and visual localization and mapping (VLAM) skills. The latter is an AI-powered technology that enables robots to precisely determine its location from camera videos to navigate complex environments.

The robot's technology utilizes SK Telecom’s proprietary Edge-AI Infrastructure which reduces the computational burden on the cloud through edge computing. SK Telecom says that it also strengthens data protection and security as data is processed within the infrastructure instead of being sent to the central server.

The company hopes to diversify its business portfolio by integrating the Edge-AI Infrastructure into the service, manufacturing and retail sectors. It will also work towards providing testbeds, securing global licenses and conducting research and development to collect additional AI technologies.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]