SEOUL -- Seongnam City, a southern satellite city of Seoul, is set to resume the service of its robot-operated mobile library called "Carbook." The robot will traverse the Tancheon Riverside Park to lend books.
Carbook, which commenced operations in 2022, is a car-shaped robot measuring 1.8 meters (5.8 feet) in length, 1.2 meters in height, and 1.1 meters in width. Its operation was temporarily suspended during the winter season for routine inspection and maintenance. Equipped with LiDAR sensors and satellite navigation autonomous driving algorithms, Carbook travels autonomously at a maximum speed of 33 kilometers per hour (20 miles).
Seongnam announced that Carbook will recommence its operation on March 18. The popular robot librarian will patrol Seongnam's riverside park for two hours each in the morning and in the afternoon, excluding holidays and rainy days.
Carbook carries approximately 70 books and offers book lending and return services for up to two books per person, with brief stops of about 15 minutes at three stations -- Tancheon Bridge, Sasong Bridge, and Yatap Bridge. To utilize the service, users must scan the barcode of their membership card issued by Seongnam City Public Library with Carbook, enabling them to borrow their desired books.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
