▲ 2018’s Korea Robot Company of the Year

On December 17th, The Robot News announced their list for 2018’s Korea Robot Company of the Year.

The Robot News reviewed the increasingly competitive landscape of Korea’s robot companies and carried out a comprehensive survey of the factors that contributed to the development of the Korean robot industry this year, including the future growth potential of the company, CEO management skills, new product releases, and market response. A total of 13 companies were selected as ‘2018 Korea Robot Company of the Year’ in seven categories that included Industrial robots, Professional service robots, Personal service robots, Educational robots, Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous navigation systems, and Robot design.

A total of 13 companies were honored. The following is a breakdown of companies awarded this year, according to their categories. △Industrial robots category: NEUROMEKA (www.neuromeka.com), Doosan Robotics (www.doosanrobotics.com), RAONTEC (www.raonrobot.com), T-ROBOTICS Co. Ltd. (www.t-robotics.net) △Professional service robots category: ANGEL ROBOTICS (http://angel-robotics.com), Wonik Robotics (www.wonikrobotics.com), Hyundai Rotem (www.hyundai-rotem.co.kr) △ Personal service robot category: Yujin Robot Co. Ltd. (www.yujinrobot.com), RF Co. Ltd. (www.rof.co.kr) △ Educational robot category: Roborobo Co. Ltd. (www.roborobo.co.kr) △ Artificial Intelligence Software Category: Wonderful Platform (www.1thefull.com) △ Autonomous car category: Unmanned Solution (www.unmansol.com) △ Robot Design Category: Designer’s Kingdom Co. Ltd. (www.dk1998.com).

The following is a closer look at this year’s top Korean robot companies according to their respective categories.

In the category of industrial robots, Neuromeka Co., Ltd. (www.neuromeka.com), was established in 2013 and is headquartered in Gangnam, Seoul. Industrial collaborative robots, delta robots, and robot controllers make up the bulk of their business. Their main products are the Indy collaborative robot series Indy3, Indy5, Indy7, Indy10, Indy15, Indy-RP, Indy-RP2 and the OPTi series OPTi5 and OPTi10 models. Neuromeka’s signature model ‘Indy’, is a collaborative robot that uses an innovative collision detection algorithm to guarantee the safety of factory workers. The product supports more intuitive direct teaching through impedance control and allows online and offline programming through the Teach Pendant app on Android tablets. The 'OPTi' series is a low cost model to meet the needs of a wide range of clients.

Doosan Robotics Co., Ltd. (www.doosanrobotics.com) was established in 2015 with its head office located in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do. The company is in the business of industrial collaborative robots. Doosan Robotics’ collaborative robots are equipped with high-performance torque sensors on all six axes to detect even slight impacts that could harm the robot – and safely stop them. Doosan Robot's own safety setting function protects workers with double or triple layers of protection. In addition, the robot is capable of high precision work with adaptive control and force control based on a high-level algorithm and six-axis torque sensor on a robust and stable platform, which can be extended to various interfaces. In addition, the intuitive user interface (UI) implements various robot skills as icons, allowing non-experts to easily install and program the robot. The product lineup consists of 4 models – the industry’s highest number – with a working radius of up to 1.7m and payloads up to 15kg to be used in a wide range of work processes. In recognition of its excellent user experience (UX) and its sophisticated, superior product design, the company won one of the most prestigious design awards, Germany’s Red Dot Design Award in 2017 in the 'Interface & User Experience Category' and in 2018 for ‘Product Design'.

RAONTEC (www.raonrobot.com) was founded in 2000 and have been purveyors of industrial robots and logistic equipment for the past 18 years. Their head office is located in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do. The company has been centered on improving logistics-related automation in the production of semiconductors and flat panel displays (FPD) with their robots and other equipment. Their vacuum robot for transferring wafers used in the semiconductor manufacturing line has 4 hands that can independently compensate for the wafer location for safe transfer. The four hands possess high transfer ability and high precision thanks to the arms that can move independently. The magnetic fluid seal allows it to be used in high vacuum environments and the long time between maintenance periods is attractive for the user. Because chambers that use the conventional 2-hand 4-axis vacuum robots have a cluster shape, the chamber is large; instead, the 4-hand 7-axis vacuum robot has the advantage of being able to mount up to 6 process chambers in a small space, and, because the arms move independently, ensures that work can continue, even if one of the chambers fail. RAONTEC’s small-sized delta robot is a 500mm-diameter robot optimized to quickly transport products in a small space. It is being used by a wide range of companies in the field of food, cosmetics and medical automation. The company is even constructing an automation line using robots.

T-ROBOTICS Co., Ltd. (www.t-robotics.net) was established in 2004 and is the leading vacuum transfer robot for semiconductors and displays in Korea. Its head office is in Osan, Gyeonggi-do. The company is a leading supplier of vacuum robot equipment and vacuum system (chamber) equipment to semiconductor, flat panel display, solar cell, and OLED manufacturers. The company was launched under the name TES Co., Ltd., but changed their name to T-ROBOTICS last year. The company developed Korea’s first large-size vacuum robot, which was commercialized in 2009 and subsequently supplied to large-enterprise production lines. Since 2012, they have been expanding their overseas market by shipping their vacuum robots and systems to China and the US. Over time, the company has accumulated cutting edge technology in the robot field, retaining core technology involving medium and large size vacuum robots, such as 'Robot mechanism design technology', 'Precision motion control technology', 'Vacuum and cleaning maintenance technology', 'Large structure design and analysis technology'. With the launch of the 11th generation vacuum robot equipment jointly developed with the premier equipment maker Applied Materials (AMAT) in 2017, T-ROBOTICS was the first in the world to be suppliers to the B9 line of Chinese panel supplier BOE, proving their technological heavyweight status. The company has recently entered the second phase of its growth by being listed on the KOSDAQ market.

In the Professional Service Robot Category is ANGEL ROBOTICS (www.angel-robotics.com), a start-up company established in 2017 and located in Mapo, Seoul. The company builds wearable robot suits that help people who are unable to walk unaided, and to rehabilitate people who struggle with walking disorders. To date, the company has developed their robot suits ANGELEGS, ANGEL-SUIT, and WALKON SUIT. ANGELEGS, is used to assist the rehabilitative treatment of lower limb paralysis patients or in the daily lives of the elderly as walking assistant robots; it adopts non-resistance drive technology, and without sensors can anticipate the wearer’s walking movements to minimize interference in the user’s natural movements and minimize discomfort. Smart shoes with sensors can measure exercise data and perform real-time gait monitoring. The joints have more than 12 degrees of freedom in total and wearable parts that can be adjusted to the body. The company’s 'WalkOn Suit' is a wearable robot designed specifically for persons with complete paralysis. The hybrid drive system achieves maximum driving force and joint speeds in its class, making it possible to walk not only on flat surfaces but also on stairs, slopes, and stepping stones.

Established in 2004, the robotics company Wonik Robotics (www.wonikrobotics.com) is a subsidiary of the Wonik Group, a company specializing in semiconductor and display; its head office is located in Bundang, Gyeonggi-do. The company has been active in the development and sales of robot hands, real-time robot simulators, mobile robot platforms, and service guide robots. Their main products include a promotional service robot, ‘ADDY’; a robot hand, ‘Allegro Hand’; the porter robot JIMBOT; and the robotics software development tool, ‘RoboticsLab’. Fitted with four fingers, the robot hand ‘Allegro Hand’ is priced competitively with a high degree of dexterity, which has made it an attractive choice for numerous research institutes both in and outside of Korea to use for their own robotics research. This year, Wonik Robotics has been focusing on their service and guide robot business. ‘ADDY’, their promotional service robot is an AI robot capable of autonomous navigation and speech recognition, allowing it to autonomously travel by determining its position and direction. The high-resolution LCD screen in the lower area displays an exhibition and convention-related promotion screen, which supports four languages: Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese.

Hyundai Rotem (www.hyundai-rotem.co.kr) began in 1997 as manufacturers of railway vehicles and defense products in Korea. Its head office is in Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi-do. Their railway systems consist of railway vehicle production and railway signaling and communications; in the plants and machinery division, they are also in the business of manufacturing and commissioning in the field of automotive manufacturing facilities, steelmaking facilities, power plant facilities, and pollution prevention facilities for power plants and environmental facilities. In 2010, the company began to actively develop wearable robots in line with the national ‘industrial muscle enhancing robot’ project, with the end result of developing a next generation personal mobility wearable robot to protect workers in the industrial environment. The H-CEX (a knee-support robot) is referred to as the ‘chairless chair’, as it is designed to reduce the burden on the knee and back for workers who need to remain in a standing position for long periods of time. The knee protection device allows the user to assume a sitting position. Various seating angles are possible to help maintain optimal working posture, and the lightweight and operational mechanism design maximizes ease of movement and seating comfort. The H-WEX (back support robot) is a device that supports the back joints in the industrial setting to prevent musculoskeletal diseases and ease the load of the work. The latest HRI (Human Robot Interaction) technology has been applied to make it easy for anyone to wear and use.

In the Personal service robot category, Yujin Robot (www.yujinrobot.com) is an exemplary domestic robot company that was established in 1988 with its head office located in Songdo, Incheon. Their main products include the cleaning robot ‘iClebo’ series, the delivery service robot 'GoCart' and the mobile robot platform 'TurtleBot'. The company is best known for their household cleaning robots. Their new product ‘iClebo O5' is a premium robot cleaner with powerful suction power and sophisticated design to remove even microdust. This robot is the first of the company’s products to have artificial intelligence capabilities so that the robot is able to remember, learn, and store location data and be controlled via a smartphone to clean remotely or configure a cleaning area. In addition, it is able to sense and assess its environment to adjust its suction power accordingly; moreover the robot is loaded with advanced functions such as remotely controlled updates in order to maximize user convenience. Recently, the company has been making moves to strengthen their logistics robots and robot parts divisions. The new ‘GoCart 120’, their autonomous travel logistics delivery system, is equipped with an autonomous navigation solution that integrates Yujin’s proprietary technology. Stereo cameras, 3D sensors and ultrasonic sensors are used to accurately analyze the space, to not only recognize obstacles to avoid collisions, but also to use elevators, move from floor to floor, and pass through automatic doors to navigate complicated spaces that are typical of large hospitals, hotels, and factories; it can also be used in factories and narrowly defined spaces.

RF Co., Ltd. (www.mywindowmate.com) was established in 2014 and its head office is located in Daegu City. The company’s most popular product, 'Windowmate' is a magnetically based intelligent window cleaning robot that uses powerful neodymium magnets to attach onto a window. Once fixed into place, it determines its location relative to the window frame and proceeds to clean both sides of the window with the press of a single button. It is an intelligent window cleaning robot that simultaneously cleans both sides of a window. Four sensors – ultrasonic sensor, angle sensor, contact sensor and magnetic sensor – are applied to determine and control the robot’s position to clean without leaving any dirty spots. The cleaning pads can be easily detached, washed, and reattached for users’ convenience. The robots come in a modern and simple design, in a variety of colors including midnight blue, white, cherry brown, gold and other sophisticated colors. Depending on the thickness of the window, the lineup consists of RT10PW (5 - 10mm), RT16PW (11 - 16mm), RT22PW (17 - 22mm) and RT28PW (23 - 28mm). The company has also developed a new model that can clean frameless windows. With the use of a non-contact sensor, the robot automatically senses when it comes to the end of the glass, upon algorithms allow it to move in the opposite direction. Hence it is now possible to clean frameless specialty glass.

In the Educational Robot Division, Roborobo (www.roborobo.co.kr) was established in 2000 and is the largest education robot company in Korea. With the Korean government’s calls to provide compulsory coding education in schools starting this year and an abundance of interest in coding education all over the world, the company is looking to capitalize on the burgeoning market for coding robots. Currently, the educational robot sold by Roborobo includes the educational humanoid robot, 'ROMANBO'; a coding robot for infants, 'UARO'; an educational kit using Scratch and Entry compatible paper toys, 'Coding Story'; a Lego lock type educational coding robot, ‘ROBO Kids', and a robot kit with multiple coding capabilities using PC programming and smart devices, 'ROBO Kits'. Robo is currently exporting educational robots to 20 countries, with the bulk going to China. It has obtained CCC certification in China and established a joint venture there to lay roots in the Chinese market. By providing step-by-step configured products for children aged 3 years to middle and high school students and older, the company offers a broad range of educational opportunities for students. In December of last year, it was listed on the KOSDAQ market, marking the company’s ‘second leap’.

In the Artificial intelligent software category, Wonderful Platform (www.1thefull.com) is a company that develops technology-intensive, knowledge-intensive software as well as robot and chatbot development platforms. It was established in January, 2016 and headquartered in Seocho-Gu, Seoul. The company develops and sells software that integrates technologies required for artificial intelligence development, namely, software solutions, big data technology, and chatbot and machine learning API technologies based on natural language learning. Their main robot products include BeanQ, Nano, Elf, Holobox, and Hologram artificial intelligence robot. Their services for artificial intelligence solutions include data analysis, natural language processing, image recognition, and chatbots. For block-chain solutions, they offer coffee bots and SDK for dApp developers. Their artificial intelligence menu recommendation application 'Wellbee Care' is an AI program that recommends meal plans to patients who need to monitor their diet due to conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, by providing health-specific recipes by predicting blood pressure increase depending on individual lifestyles. At the end of last year, the company acquired the exclusive domestic sales rights for the Chinese company Qihan Technology’s Sanbot robot; they are currently selling a wide range of communications robots and guide service robots.

Unmanned Solution (www.unmansol.com) was established in 2008 and is located in Seocho-gu, Seoul. It is one of Korea’s foremost companies to develop unmanned autonomous vehicles, unmanned tractors and vehicle type robot platforms. The company has produced and sold over 100 self-driving vehicles in Korea. In 2017, they developed self-driving shuttles for electric vehicle based platforms by developing their own bodywork designs, which was successfully run at the Astana Expo. The company is at a brisk pace to becoming world class autonomous driving platform developers. This year, the company plans to develop and release a level 5 autonomous driving shuttle model based on the 11-seater low-speed electric car, which is unique to Unmanned Solution. With this, the company is looking to preemptively carve out a large share of the autonomous public transportation market. KT is in active cooperation with the company to commercialize the autonomous driving service and plans to integrate key autonomous driving technologies and promote the self-driving business for public transportation within the government, local government, and B2B markets.

In the Robot design category, Designer’s Kingdom Co. Ltd. (www.dk1998.com) is a robot designing and planning company established in 2015, located in Cheongna, Incheon. The company specializes in Korean and overseas robot design trend consulting; service robot design, materials, planning, and prototypes; industrial robot design, materials, planning, and prototypes; public robot design, materials, planning, and prototypes. Among these, Designer’s Kingdom’s core business lies in professional service robot design. In the future, robot design looks to be a professional field, although currently the robot aspect is more specialized. The company has more than 20 types of robot products designed so far. The company has also been awarded the iF Design Award in Germany, one of the most prestigious design awards in the world, and the Good Design Award in Korea.

The ‘2018 Korea Robot Company of the Year’ award ceremony will be held at the Sheraton Seoul Palace Gangnam Hotel at 11:00 am on December 21st.