SEOUL -- LG Electronics unveiled a next-generation delivery robot capable of moving indoors and outdoors at a robot seminar. The four-wheeled robot can adjust the gap between its wheels, actively responds to terrain changes and moves in an optimized driving mode.
LG said the new robot shown at a seminar in the eastern port city of Gangneung can move with less vibration when it encounters raised spots or uneven roads. The company has developed an integrated robot platform that can be used indoors and outdoors. After thorough verification, LG aims to test the platform at the end of 2021.
"The integrated next-generation delivery robot is the result of our preemptive response to customers' increased demands for non-face-to-face services," LG's future technology head Kim Byoung-hoon said in a statement on July 13. "Robots that combine 5G and artificial intelligence are expected to coexist with people without restrictions on movement indoors and outdoors, making life safer and more convenient."
LG has developed various service robots such as CLOi, an artificial intelligence-based autonomous service robot that provides navigational services and controls connected appliances such as an air conditioning system. At Incheon International Airport, South Korea's main gateway, CLOi intelligent robots are helping travelers navigate through the complex.
Sangbae Kim, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), tied up with LG's robot research center in early 2020 to develop robot technology. Kim's research focuses on the bio-inspired robot design by extracting principles from animals. Kim's achievements include a climbing robot, Stickybot, that utilizes the directional adhesives to climb smooth surfaces, and the MIT Cheetah capable of stable outdoor running and autonomous jumping over an obstacle at an efficiency of animals.
In November 2020, LG launched a pilot service using a closet-type service robot called "CLOi ServeBot." When orders are made through a smartphone app, the robot carries groceries up and down between floors using elevators. The robot can carry a payload of 15 kilograms (33 pounds) with its closet using a built-in lock and security system to prevent robbery.