South Korea aims to become one of the world's top three robot powerhouses by 2013, a senior government official said.
The offical added at the same time, South Korea plans to become a country leading the global robot industry by 2018.
"In line with this, the government mapped out the first intelligent robot basic plan in April 2009, which focuses on creation of preemptive market, enhancement of technology competitiveness and system improvement & fostering of manpower," said Kim Jun-dong, director general for energy industries of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.
In an interview with Korea IT Times, Kim said, "First of all, the ministry will actively push ahead with a pilot project to expand demands for robots centering on public institutions, such as learning assistance robots at primary schools and fire-fighting robots at the fire defense headquarters of Daegu."
Director General Kim also said that the ministry plans to create massive-scale public demands for robots and build a robot land consisting of a robot experience hall, a robot stadium and a theme park.
"As a means of enhancing the nation's robot technology competitiveness, we will select the five robots _ state-of-the-art manufacture robot, edutainment robot, society safety robot, medical robot and life care robot _ as the top five star brands with bright prospects for market creation," he said.
"Along with this, the government will intensively support development of robot software, parts and other core technologies, which are essential to secure price competitiveness of robot products," said Kim.
In an effort to secure robots' high quality, the government has been implementing a quality certification system based on the Robot Law, under which the state certifies function, reliance and safety of new robot products.
"Related to this, the ministry has prepared a guideline for implementation of the system and selected cleaning robots of Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics as the world's first robot quality certified products in April 2010," said Kim.
"To actively foster professional manpower in charge of robots, the government designated and supported the robot research center and a specialized graduate course of robots," he noted.
Ripple effects of robot industry
When asked about the industrial and economic ripple effects of the domestic robot industry, called the new convergence industry, Kim said, "The market volume of the robot industry will grow by an annual average of 34.6% from 1.02 trillion won in 2009 to 4 trillion won in 2013."
Noting that about 14,000 jobs are expected to be created in the robot industry by 2013, he said, "Most jobs will be created in the robot manufacturing and production sectors of hardware, software, parts and contents."
During the period from 2009 to 2013, 1,380 jobs are likely to be created in robot design and service concept development sectors; 3,450 jobs in robot software, hardware and parts development; another 3,450 jobs in development of robot service contents; 2,760 jobs in robot manufacture and production, including tests and appraisals; another 2,760 jobs in robot distribution, sales, management and other relevant services.
"As the scientific and technological ripple effects, we can cite upgrade of robot technology and system through convergence of such various advanced technologies, including machines, electricity, electronics, software, control, communication and materials," he said.
"Through technology convergences and applications of each sector, we can expand and develop practical applications of relevant technologies," said Kim.
Director General Kim also said that the spread of robot technologies to such related industries as automobiles, home appliances, smart home and shipbuilding will accelerate accompanying growth of all industries.
"Moreover, developed core and common technologies can be used for intelligation of other industrial sectors and such technology spread will positively affect the overall industry," said Kim.
On the social and cultural ripple effects of the robot industry, Kim said, "The robot industry can be an alternative of national welfare, solving the labor force problem caused by a fall in the birth rate and entry into an aging society. We can also upgrade national competitiveness and brand value by leading the next-generation robot industry."
Volume of robot market
According to a survey of the robot industry carried out by Korea Association of Robot Industry, the total production of domestic robot companies increased by 23.4% from 826.8 billion won in 2008 to 1.02 trillion won in 2009.
Of the total, the production of robots in the manufacturing sector, including automobiles, electricity, electronics and semiconductors, rose by 18.6% to 832.3 billion won. The rise was mainly attributed to an increase in facility investment, including production automation through robots.
"In the meantime, service robots soared by 55.6% from 48.3 billion won in 2008 to 75.1 billion in 2009. The output is expected to soar from 44.1 billion won in 2007 to some 200 billion won in 2010," Kim said.
Production of professional service robots, including robots for border surveillance, went up by 23.3% to 15 billion won. Meanwhile, output of individual service robots, including robots for cleaning and education, surged by 66.5% to 60.1 billion won.
"The production in robot parts also soared by 46.4% from 76.9 billion won in 2008 to 112.8 billion won in 2009, indicating that the domestic robot industry is showing a balanced growth," said Kim.
According to the International Federation of Robotics, the world's robot market volume is estimated to have grown by 16% from the previous year to $9.4 billion in 2008.
Commenting that the global robot market for manufacturing is estimated to reach $6.2 billion, Kim said, "The comparable market volume is showing a steady annual average growth of 10% and is likely to reach some $17.3 billion in 2020."
Service robots are also showing a robust growth, reaching some $3 billion in production.
Kim said, "Professional service robot market is witnessing a high annual average growth of 45.2% thanks to spread of robot application to national defense and medical service sectors, as well as convergence with other industries, including automobiles."
Individual service robot market, which suffered a year-on-year decline of 15% to $300 million in 2006, shifted to an upward trend, reaching $569 million in 2008.
R&D success cases
As part of the new growth engine smart projects, the government has been pushing for development of a surveillance robot system and construction of test bed, Kim said.
"Through development of a surveillance robot system and construction of test bed, new markets were created in the society safety and national defense sectors both at home and abroad. In particular, Samsung Techwin invested 6 billion won for the robot development project in 2009," said Kim.
For instance, the nation developed a surveillance robot system, which can keep strict watch, conduct surveillance, and detect fire by using stationary-type and mobile-type robots.
"At the same time, a test bed was established at the oil reserve base in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, to verify function of the system," he explained.
"Among the major achievements of the robot projects are the projects to remove fence at an estuary of Han River in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province and the Ministry of Defense's pilot project for GP surveillance robot system," he said.
Meanwhile, Korea succeeded in attaining the 55 billion won order to build a road transport surveillance robot system from Algeria in May 2010.
Status of robot parts and components
The domestic production of robot parts and components soared by 46.6% from a year earlier to 112.7 billion won in 2009.
Viewing the portion of the output in 2009, robot moving parts and components accounted for 33.7% of the total and robot structural parts and components took 32.4%.
"Globally, development and commercialization of robot axis coupling controllers has been made to secure mobility and high performance of service robots," Kim explained.
Korea's representative robot products
Among the nation's representative robot products with high global competitiveness are HUBO, EveR and cleaning robots in the individual service robot sector and border surveillance robots in the professional service robot sector.
Following the first HUBO, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) developed HUBO 2. HUBO 2, the world's third full-sized humanoid robot capable of running, can run 3.6 kilometers per hour (kph) with 30-centimeter strides, with its walking speed improving to 1.8 kph from the 1.2 kph of the previous edition. Both feet of the robot are simultaneously off the ground during running for up to 30 milliseconds.
The problem of keeping the robot balanced with both feet off the ground was a daunting challenge for developers in many countries. The KAIST team solved this problem by placing a special sensor in HUBO 2's lower abdomen.
The new robot stands at 1.25 meters, the same height as the first HUBO, but is 10 kilograms lighter at 45 kilograms. It can also walk without bending its knees to save substantial energy in operations.
It also can grasp objects with five fingers, shake hands and deliver words in sign language.
Before HUBO 2, two Japan-made robots - Honda's ASIMO and Toyota's Partner robots - achieved the feat of running.
"This is a rapid and remarkable improvement in Korea's short history in robotics engineering," Kim said. KAIST began researching for humanoid robots in 2002, led by professor Oh Jun-ho, and developed the first prototype, KHR-1, in 2003, without a head and arms.
In 2005, KAIST released the world's first android head to be mounted on HUBO, in a joint project with Texas-based Hanson Robotics during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Seoul. The robot was dubbed "Albert Einstein HUBO," as the head was an exact recreation of the late physicist.
"The achievements by HUBO 2 will pave the way for Korea to emerge as a global leader in humanoid robotics. While Japan is still leader in the field, Korea's development pace is narrowing the gap," he said.
Japan first developed a humanoid robot in 1971, but it took 32 years before ASIMO became the world's first running robot in 2003.
EveR-1 is a Korean android capable of realistic facial expressions to express happiness, anger, sadness and pleasure. EveR-1's android skin is made from a silicon jelly that feels similar to human skin. Resembling a woman in her 20's, EveR-1 is 160 centimeters tall.
The android has 15 sensors in its robotic face to allow it to interpret the face of a person before it, and 35 miniature motors to create expression and properly look back at a person talking to it. The EveR-1 has a basic vocabulary of 400 works, and can have simple verbal exchanges with humans.
"The robot can serve to provide information in department stores and museums or read stories to children. It is capable of both education and entertainment functions," Kim explained.
Among cleaning robots are ICLEBO manufactured by Yujin Robot Co., Tango Robot Vacuum Cleaner produced by Samsung Electronics and RoboKing made by LG.
In the meantime, Samsung Techwin developed a surveillance robot system, which can keep strict watch, conduct surveillance, and detect fire by using stationary-type and mobile-type robots.
 The followings are main contents of the interview with Kim Jun-dong, director general for energy industries of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. _ Ed. Question: Korea is regarded as one of the best test beds for appraisals of robot services in the world. Would you make comments on positive factors about such opinion Answer: Korea's growth potential for the robot industry stands at a top level in the world. The country is the best place for expansion of the robot industry, considering its main industries that can use robots, advanced IT infrastructure, standardized living environment, and nationality accepting state-of-the art technology. As the global robot market has just entered an initial stage of development, Korea can secure a leading position in the robot industry based on the nation's original growth potential. Many market analysts predict that Korea will introduce multifunctional home robots for the first time in the world. Q: Would you introduce the government's plan to support the domestic robot industry A: The government is actively supporting domestic robot companies' projects to develop and commercialize new robots. At the same time, it has carried out a market validation project centering on robots for education and robots for fire prevention. Through analysis of users' demands and responses, we can verify the possibility of commercialization of new robot products and consumers can shift their recognition of robot products in a positive way. Q: Would you explain the status of domestic standard certification on robots A: Related to service robots, there are 13 Korean Standards (KS), including the method to measure function of home cleaning robots. Based on such standards, we are now developing quality certification standards on individual service robot products. As the first attempt, certifications on the two models _ home cleaning robots produced by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics _ were completed. Considering the development trends of robot products and market situation, the ministry plans to expand the quality certification projects to new one item every year. In 2010, it projects to enact the quality certification standard for robots for teaching aids. Q: Would you introduce robot products which can lead global standardization A: At present, the ministry is actively supporting various projects for global standardization of robot products. For instance, we are making all-out efforts to reflect the domestic test standards and appraisal methods to the global standard-making process for home cleaning robots, which is now being propelled by the TC59 SC59F Working Group 5 of the International Electrotechnical Commission. The ministry is also moving to systematically expand the project for robot standardization and quality certification, taking into account product development and market situation, along with Korean Agency for Technology Standards and Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement. |
