“Shipbuilding Goes AI”… UNIST Launches Full-Scale Super Large Industrial AI Development

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, and Crowdworks Form Consortium


Leading the AI Transformation of Korea's Key Shipbuilding Industry

Driving Real-World Industrial Demonstrations

The shipbuilding industry, the heart of traditional manufacturing, is charting a new course with the advent of artificial intelligence.

UNIST (President Chong Rae Park) announced that it has been finally selected as the lead research institution for the shipbuilding sector in the Ministry of Science and ICT’s "Super Large Industrial AI Research Support Project" and will begin full-scale research to lead the AI transformation (AX) in shipbuilding.

This project is a large-scale research and development initiative with a total budget of 40.3 billion won (28.5 billion won from the national government, 2.5 billion won from Ulsan City, and 9.3 billion won from corporate contributions).

The goal is to develop a super large industrial AI (foundation model) based on diverse data generated on shipyard sites and to apply and validate this model in actual industrial settings.

The consortium, centered around UNIST, includes HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, and Crowdworks. Each institution will take on roles in research and development, industrial application, and data construction, working in close collaboration.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering will provide design, production, and quality data accumulated at real shipyard sites, and play a critical role in applying and verifying the developed AI technology on-site. Crowdworks will be responsible for building and refining large-scale industrial data and developing training datasets, thereby supporting the creation of a high-quality AI learning environment. Through these efforts, the consortium plans to establish a demonstration-centered research system that closely connects industrial field needs with technology development.

UNIST will promote the project through an integrated research system involving the Graduate School of Artificial Intelligence, the Department of Industrial Engineering, the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and the U-Future Strategy Institute, a regional think tank.

The research team aims to develop a multimodal super large AI foundation model that integrates and learns from various types of data generated at shipyards, such as design drawings, work instructions, on-site videos, and sensor data. The goal is to automate and optimize key shipbuilding tasks such as ship design and production planning, and to verify the effectiveness of the technology through real-world applications.

Industrial Domain-Specific Multimodal Super Large Foundation Model Development Image.

This project is significant as it represents an industry-academia-research collaboration model that combines UNIST's AI research capabilities, data and domain knowledge from the shipbuilding industry, and the technical expertise of a data specialist company. In particular, although the shipbuilding industry is traditionally cautious about data sharing due to its industrial characteristics, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering have made a major decision for industrial innovation by agreeing to provide core data and conduct joint research with UNIST.

President Chong Rae Park of UNIST stated, "This project is a representative example of industry-academia cooperation, combining UNIST's AI research capabilities with the region's key industries. As a science and technology institute, we are committed to leading the AX transformation of our region’s flagship industry and will continue to expand research focused on innovation at industrial sites."

Kim Sungyeop, Head of the Industrial AI Initiative at UNIST, said, "Through this project, we will establish a trust-based industry-academia collaboration model with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, and Crowdworks." He added, "Through integrated research involving multiple departments at UNIST, we will develop technologies that the industry truly needs and deliver tangible outcomes, including real-world implementation."

This project is expected to produce tangible outcomes such as overall productivity improvement and quality innovation from ship design to production planning, and is anticipated to serve as a catalyst for accelerating the AI transformation (AX) of Korea’s shipbuilding industry.

UNIST

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