"Elevators to Your Doorstep... Experience GAEMI Hotel Delivery Service Robots"

The Indoor service robot stands in front of the elevator...the arm mounted on the top of the robot unfolds and the elevator button is pressed...then there is also a knock at the door.

In Korea, companies that provide autonomous driving-based indoor and outdoor service robot business include ROBOTIS, Baedal Minjok's 'Dilly', Mobin, and Newbility.

In order to actually examine the technology level of these robots, we looked at ROBOTIS' indoor and outdoor service robots at the '2024 Hotel Fair' held at COEX on the 24th. ROBOTIS is a company that started the robot business in 1999, and its signature product is the smart actuator ‘Dynamixel’. An actuator is a modular device that integrates the motor, reducer, controller, and communication unit of a robot into one. This technological prowess is also reflected in today’s service robots.

Robotis’ indoor service robot ‘GAEMI’ / Reporter Cho Sang-rok

‘GAEMI’ with 20 years of robot technology

ROBOTIS' service robot 'Ant' is divided into indoor and outdoor versions. Depending on each environment, it is subdivided into drawer type, swing door type, and open door type. First, indoor service robots are similar to serving robots. Two to three levels of loading space are provided in the robot body.

ROBOTIS’ indoor service robot ‘GAEMI’ / Reporter Cho Sang-rok

The product is equipped with about 10 camera-based sensors, so it recognizes its surroundings in real time and moves to its destination. Camera-based sensors are a method that has recently been in the spotlight in the autonomous driving field. Compared to existing lidar sensors, it is cheaper and has a wider recognition range. Of course, LiDAR is higher in terms of accuracy, but ROBOTIS has built a system that allows accurate identification with just a camera.

A bumper sensor and an ultrasonic sensor are installed at the bottom of the product. It is a device that recognizes unexpected patterns on the ground when moving and responds to unexpected situations.

GAEMI's robotic arm is pressing an elevator button / Reporter Cho Sang-rok

GAEMI's robot arm knocking / Reporter Cho Sang-rok

The biggest feature of the indoor robot is the robot arm mounted on the top. You can also press elevator buttons and knock with your arms. Cameras are installed on the arms and the top of the robot to recognize surrounding objects. ROBOTIS’ actuator technology was applied to the joints. In particular, the cycloid reducer developed in 2021 is applied to ensure more natural movement and stronger durability.

ROBOTIS Professional Seunghyeon Lee said, “When attaching an arm to a service robot, the production cost exceeds 10 million won. On the other hand, because ROBOTIS has its own technology, it can significantly reduce costs,” he said.

ROBOTIS' outdoor service robot 'GAEMI' / Reporter Cho Sang-rok

The outdoor service robot operates by detecting and judging the surrounding environment and obstacles on its own based on deep learning AI. The outdoor robot also operates based on a vision camera and is additionally equipped with ultrasonic and 2D lidar sensors for safety.

The advantage of ROBOTIS outdoor robots is stability. It is a four-wheel drive system equipped with individual motors, and torque control is possible. This advantage is revealed when it rotates smoothly in place. Suspension performance has also been strengthened, so there is no problem with durability even when carrying heavy loads.

Pro Seunghyun Lee said, “The early model had many shortcomings in terms of stability compared to the current one. When I tested it outdoors, unlike indoors, the floor was uneven, so it shook a lot at speed. By continuously improving this, we have now completed the 4th generation model that can move stably even outdoors,” he explained.

“We are already in commercial service”

ROBOTIS robots have relatively many application cases. Indoors, it is being used in hotels, government offices, and hospitals, and outdoors, it is being commercialized in 10 locations, including apartment complexes, camping sites, resorts, parks, and golf courses. Even if there are regulations for outdoor self-driving robots, they do not apply to private land, so if you have the technology, you can fully commercialize them.

Three types of ‘GAEMI’ indoor delivery service robots from Robotis / Reporter Cho Sang-rok

In the case of indoor robots, more than 50 hotels, including Paradise City, began full-scale ‘hotel robot service’ in 2022. In addition, at Seoul City Hall, I worked as a robot manager (robot + manager), delivered documents by courier, and guided the building. He also performed delivery work at ‘The Rise Osaka Kitashinchi Hotel’ in Japan.

After being selected as the first company to receive regulatory sandbox validation in December 2018, the outdoor robot operated more than 20 units in the Magongnaru area and provided delivery services to nearby restaurants. Commercialization services are being implemented at Gapyeong Midas Hotel & Resort, Godeok Central I-Park in Gangdong-gu, and Songdo International Camping Site in Incheon.

ROBOTIS' outdoor service robot 'GAEMI' / Reporter Cho Sang-rok

ROBOTIS is planning full-scale commercialization this year. Pro Seunghyeon Lee said, “Because we have our own manufacturing facility, we can produce 1,000 units per year. In the first half of the year, we will focus on indoor service robots and put more effort into entering Japan and the United States,” he said.

Reporter Cho Sang-rok [email protected]

출처 : IT조선(https://it.chosun.com)

Richard Kim
Operations Specialist