"Welding by Robots"... HD Hyundai Begins Humanoid Demonstration

Advanced Tasks Enabled by Bipedal Humanoids
Accelerating the Transition to Smart Shipyards

HD Hyundai is set to begin full-scale demonstration and commercialization of a shipyard-specialized welding humanoid. The company plans to deploy "physical AI-based robots" at shipbuilding sites, where labor shortages and high-risk work environments persist, in order to simultaneously improve productivity and safety.

HD Hyundai recently signed a joint development agreement for the demonstration and commercialization of welding humanoids specialized for shipyards. From the left in the photo are Song Younghoon, Head of Solution Development at HD Hyundai Robotics, Lee Dongju, Head of Manufacturing Innovation Research Institute at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Photo provided by HD Hyundai

On March 23, at the HD Hyundai Global R&D Center in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, HD Hyundai announced that it had signed a joint development agreement for the demonstration and commercialization of a shipyard-specialized welding humanoid with HD Hyundai Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, HD Hyundai Robotics, and the U.S.-based Persona AI.

This agreement is a follow-up to the business agreement for "the development of a humanoid robot for shipyard welding" signed in May last year. As the prototype developed so far has received positive evaluations regarding its technological usefulness and field applicability, the collaboration has progressed to the next stage.

Under the agreement, HD Hyundai Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering will develop welding training technologies for robots based on data accumulated from shipyard sites. The company will also conduct demonstrations by applying AI models trained on shipbuilding process data to actual field operations.

HD Hyundai Robotics will oversee the system integration for shipyard application of the humanoid, as well as develop welding quality analysis and control technologies and support field testing. Persona AI will be responsible for developing a bipedal humanoid platform capable of stable movement even in the challenging environment of shipyards.

Through this collaboration, HD Hyundai aims to complete a shipyard-specialized humanoid capable of performing advanced tasks such as welding, mobility, perception, and precision control, and to gradually implement it at shipbuilding sites.

In particular, HD Hyundai Robotics plans to further advance its physical AI-based welding technologies by incorporating the expertise and work patterns of highly skilled workers, thereby developing precision control technologies and implementing welding solutions optimized for shipyard environments.

According to the shipbuilding industry on March 23, demand for automation to address labor shortages and safety issues at shipyards is rapidly increasing. As a result, humanoid-based work automation technologies are gaining attention as the next-generation means for production innovation.

A representative from HD Hyundai stated, "Shipyard-specialized humanoids will become a core foundation of smart shipyards by enhancing worker safety and improving production efficiency," adding, "Through the introduction of humanoids, we intend to lead a new paradigm in shipbuilding."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.