Doosan Robotics will develop physical AI technology that equips collaborative robots with domestically made artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors so they can make decisions on their own without external cloud consolidation and perform welding at a skilled-worker level.
On the 6th, Doosan Robotics said its proposals for the “K-on-device AI semiconductor technology development project” and the “robot industry technology development project,” co-organized by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources and the Korea Planning&Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT), were both selected as state-funded projects, namely a next-generation collaborative robot task and an intelligent welding solution task. The total research and development (R&D) cost for the two tasks is about 98.9 billion won, of which about 68.1 billion won will be government support.
The “next-generation collaborative robot task” is a technology development project that strengthens the cognition, decision-making, and control capabilities that serve as the robot’s brain. The key is to enable the robot to perform cognition, decision-making, and control on its own without an external PC or cloud.
Doosan Robotics plans to mount on collaborative robots a domestically made AI system-on-chip (SoC) that includes a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) dedicated to AI computation and real-time communication and control functions. It said it will develop the robots to perform tasks by autonomously carrying out cognition, decision-making, and control on site based on information from cameras, tactile sensors, force/torque, and voice.
Doosan Robotics will also develop three collaborative robots with payloads (the maximum weight a robot can lift) of 5 kg, 10 kg, and 20 kg equipped with this chip, as well as an industrial humanoid capable of two-arm work and omnidirectional movement.
Doosan Robotics will conduct demonstrations of these products for 72 hours at two or more customer sites, obtain international safety certifications, and commercialize them as standard products starting in 2031.
The project is scheduled to run for 54 months, with Doosan Robotics as the lead institution and Aidin Robotics, Mobilint, the Korea Electronics Technology Institute, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH), Sage, and the industry-academia cooperation foundations of Korea University, Dongguk University, Sejong University, and Yonsei University participating.
The “collaborative robot and AI-based intelligent welding solution technology development” task centers on automating high-difficulty welding at the level required for nuclear power plant equipment by combining AI and Digital Twin with collaborative robots.
Doosan Robotics aims to match a robot’s welding path to that of a skilled worker by 95% or more and keep the robot’s welding path error within ±3 mm, the standard of a nationally accredited testing body. It also plans to automate multi-layer welding of five layers or more to cut work time by more than 50%.
The demonstration will take place at the Doosan Enerbility Nuclear Center. The company will first apply it to tack welding (temporary fastening), preheating, and welding in nuclear power plant equipment manufacturing processes, and then expand its application to shipbuilding, plants, and defense after obtaining nuclear quality certification.
The project period is 45 months, with Doosan Robotics as the lead institution, and DeepX, Sage, the industry-academia cooperation foundation of Changwon National University, and Doosan Enerbility participating.
Park In-won, president of Doosan Robotics, said, “The labor shortage on factory floors and the aging of skilled workers are structural problems that cannot be solved by simply adding more automation equipment,” adding, “By combining On-device AI Semiconductor with our own collaborative robot platform, we will build physical AI collaborative robots that learn and reproduce even the tacit knowledge of skilled workers into a new competitive edge for Korea’s manufacturing.”
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