South Korean robots narrow gap with competition

The latest breakthroughs by Western and Japanese high-tech companies include an eight-legged robot controlled by natural language, an autonomous walking bi-pedal robot, intelligent robots with 24 degrees of freedom and advanced humanoids already under development.

Sony Corp's surprisingly life-like home robot that looks and acts like a dog, as well as its humanoid robots, recently wowed Japanese consumers, while Honda's Asimo robot can walk like a human being and even climb stairs.

In recent years, South Korea's start-up companies and state-run labs have amazed the global robotics industry by rolling out highly sophisticated yet reasonably priced robotics products.

A human-like home security robot, a mobile robot controlled simply by brain waves and eye movements, a high-speed intelligent robot intended for dangerous military and life-saving operations on rough terrain and a ubiquitous software-based, three-dimensional robot are among the South Korean accomplishments that came into the global spotlight this year.

Keenly aware of the enormous economic potential of robotics, the South Korean government has recently designated robotics as one of the nation's most promising next-generation industrial fields.

Indeed, it has announced a plan to spend 1.8 trillion won (US$1.55 billion) from the state coffers and will induce the private sector to invest another 1.7 trillion won on research and development in intelligent robotics and nine other strategic growth products over the next five years.

Whereas an industrial robot is designed to perform a routine task in manufacturing, a personal robot is designed to work and perform activities for its user.

Advanced industrial and military robots are also replacing humans in dangerous duties or on tedious assembly lines.

Lims Technology Co, a start-up based in Daedeok Science Town in Daejeon, about 160 kilometers south of Seoul, surprised the world's robotics industry in late May with the successful development of mobile robots controlled by wireless, neural headsets.

In the long term, the company will apply the neural headset technology to medical, welfare, military and sports fields, including the development of robotic wheelchairs.

"Unlike rival neural headsets developed by Western firms, Lims Technology's headsets can independently operate without the support of computer terminals or personal digital assistants," said Hong Doo-ki, a Lims Technology engineer.

"In addition, the Lims Technology headset can be conveniently worn over natural hair, while other neural headsets require users to apply gel-like liquids for smooth mechanical operation."

Above all, price competitiveness will be the strongest weapon, Hong said, adding that talks are under way with US investors on the commercialization of the new neural headset for robotic toys.

The Seoul-based Mostitech is another rising star in the global robotics industry. The venture company will soon release a three-wheeled robot that can roam the house, scouting for burglars, fires and gas leaks while transmitting images via the Internet or mobile telecommunications to its owner.

Besides security features, Mostitech's robot, named "Seri", can read a book to children and carry out 20 types of conversations with visitors.

Thus far, the home security robot market has been the domain of Japanese consumer electronics manufacturers, which already have several such robots ranging in price from 200,000 yen (2 million won) to 2 million yen.

With a price tag of less than 1 million won ($858), however, the Korean-developed Seri, which is 50 centimeters tall and weighs only 12 kilograms, is expected to rock the global personal robot market, analysts forecast.

For instance, the Japanese-built "Banryu" robot, which has similar functions with "Seri", sells for about $18,000.

In recognition of the enormous potential of "Seri", Fortune recently put Mostitech on its 2004 list of 15 Cool Companies.

"Robotics is an integration of advanced information technologies. It is one of South Korea's future strategic fields," said Park Sang-hoon, who founded Mostitech in May 2001.

Park said his firm kept the price lower by using cheaper and simpler mechanisms, such as wheels instead of the mechanical legs used by Japanese robots.

South Korea's biggest mobile phone carrier, SK Telecom, plans to integrate "Seri" into its home network service in the second half of this year, while Mostitech plans to further upgrade the robot's face-recognition capability.

"Unlike the limited existing services that inform customers of emergency situations at home through a fixed camera or sensor, this service lets customers constantly monitor all conditions on a real-time basis through a moving robot," an SK Telecom official said.

"In particular, if strangers break into a house, the moving robot takes their photos and transmits them in real time. Or if a fire or gas leak occurs, the robot's automatic detection and alarm sensor transmits the emergency situation to the customer's handset immediately."

Meanwhile, a high-speed intelligent mobile robot developed by the state-run Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) will soon be deployed in Iraq to assist the South Korean Army in patrolling and detecting mines and explosives, KIST officials said.

The Robot for Hazardous Application (ROBHAZ)-DT3, invented by the KIST-affiliated Intelligent Robotics Research Center, is credited with a wide range of applications, including scouting and detecting mines, bombs, and chemical or radiological weapons.

For civilian affairs, the four-tracked robot can also be used for life-saving purposes, particularly in the event of fires and earthquakes.

While a number of US and British companies sell robots for dangerous tasks, ROBHAZ has a competitive edge in price, senior KIST engineer Kang Sung-chul said.

Last April, Kang's team supplied a robot to a Japanese international disaster rescue organization, marking the first export of a South Korean nonindustrial robot, he said.

As early as the mid-1990s, KIST developed the nation's first intelligent humanoid robot, "Centaur", which has a human-like upper body and four legs.

Source : Asia Pulse/Yonhap