Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Dukgeun on April 10 gives a speech at the launching ceremony for the K-Humanoid Alliance at the hotel Plaza Seoul in Seoul's Jung-gu District.

By Yoon Sojung
Photos = Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

The launch of the K-Humanoid Alliance seeks to make the nation a global superpower in humanoid robots by 2030 through active government support.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on April 10 announced its hosting of the launching ceremony for the alliance in Seoul. The estimated 350 attendees included figures from 40 entities like leading robotics companies Aeirobot and Rainbow Robotics and universities such as Seoul National University (SNU), Korea University, and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

The alliance is dubbed a "dream team" that stimulates collaboration among humanoid robot makers, artificial intelligence (AI) experts, companies dealing in parts and demand, and universities. The participants at the ceremony signed an agreement on cooperation, something that the ministry predicted would lead to an investment of over KRW 1 trillion by 2030.

Comprising 15 domestic experts in AI and robotics, the alliance is roughly divided into two groups: one for AI development led by Zhang Byoung-Tak, director of SNU's AI Institute, and the other for robot manufacturing led by Han Jeakweon, a robotics professor at Hanyang University. They will perform tasks in collaboration with university personnel associations and provide their developed AI models to robot makers.

Participating robotics companies include Rainbow Robotics, which was founded by the research team that developed the country's first domestic humanoid robot Hubo; Aeirobot, with over 15 years of research and development (R&D) in the field; wearable robot developer Angel Robotics; and collaborative robot maker Neuromeka.

The alliance's initial task is to develop robot AI, or the brain for a robot, under its goal of producing a model for the basis of robot AI by 2028. Led by the AI Institute, a campaign will gather the nation's best AI researchers to develop the model including those from KAIST, Korea and Yonsei.

Robot producers are working on core technologies for hardware to build humanoids with the world's highest specifications. Their plan is to develop by 2028 high-spec robots weighing under 60 kg, possessing 50 joints or more, boasting a payload of over 20 kg and enabling movement of more than 2.5 m per second through self-development or collaboration.

The ministry pledged its full support for technological development by companies through the budget for robotics R&D, infrastructure and verification. To supplement this year's robotics budget, which is KRW 200 billion, it will continue consultations with related ministries and the National Assembly.

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Dukgeun said at the ceremony, "Humanoid robots are a promising sector that is seen to show 25-fold growth from USD 1.5 billion this year to USD 38 billion by 2035," adding, "We'll do our best to support the K-Humanoid Alliance."

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Dukgeun (left) on April 10 shakes hands with a humanoid robot at the launching ceremony of the K-Humanoid Alliance at the hotel Plaza Seoul in Seoul's Jung-gu District.