The robot has been developed by Hyundai in collaboration with Boston Dynamics, an engineering and robotics design company which it acquired a few months ago
Hyundai Motor Group recently announced the deployment of the first ‘Factory Safety Service Robot’ at its subsidiary Kia Corporation’s plant in Gwangmyeong, southwest of Seoul, as a part of a pilot operation. Known as the Spot, the four-legged robot is built to inspect industrial site safety
The robot has been developed by Hyundai in a collaboration with a US-based startup called Boston Dynamics, and it is the first project launched between the two companies after the Korean automotive group completed the $880 million acquisition of the engineering and robotics design company from Japanese conglomerate Softbank.
Hyundai claims that the robot is capable of automatically navigating the factory with the help of its artificial intelligence (AI) processing unit, teleoperation technologies and other censors. The manufacturer has said that it will collect data from the aforementioned pilot project to optimise the Spot’s performance and make use of it in different industrial sites.
“The Factory Safety Service Robot is the first collaboration project with Boston Dynamics. The Robot will help detect risks and secure people’s safety in industrial sites,” said Dong Jin Hyun, Head of Hyundai Motor Group Robotics Lab. “We will also continue to create smart services that detect dangers at industrial sites and help support a safe work environment through continuous collaborations with Boston Dynamics,” he added.
Hyundai has also uploaded a video on YouTube showcasing Spot’s capabilities. The four-legged robot climbs up and down stairs and navigates the empty Kia factory after work hours, and checks whether any of the equipment is hot or if the doors are left open, thanks to its thermal camera and 3D LiDAR. The Robot is also able to detect persons around it.
The robot is capable of sharing real-time photos of on-site situations and an activity log with the control centre as well as support a rapid response in the event of an emergency by sounding an alarm on the control webpage. Also, managers can switch to manual teleportation if required. It is also possible to connect multiple Factory Service Safety Robots to the control system to simultaneously check various zones.