[Future Business Forum] Sangho Lee, CEO of Mandro, "Targeting Humanoid Robots with AI Prosthetic Technology"

Lee Sang-ho, CEO of the domestic startup Mandro, expressed his ambition, saying, "We will develop beyond technology for amputees to humanoid robot technology." Mandro's product is an electronic prosthetic hand. They manufacture and sell robotic hands, which are the core of the recently spotlighted humanoid robots.

Attending as a panelist at the Future Enterprise Forum hosted by Asia Economy on the 22nd, CEO Lee plans to discuss the future of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and is confident that electronic prosthetic hands will serve as a stepping stone.

Sangho Lee, CEO of Mandro [Photo by Mandro]

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To accelerate the AGI era, Mandro plans to utilize robotic prosthetic hand technology in the development of humanoid robots. Since the movement of the hand is key for robots like humanoids to perform delicate tasks, they believe they have a technological competitive edge. To this end, they intend to apply AI to finger pressure recognition and movement control. CEO Lee explained, "Beyond simply bending and straightening fingers, actions such as spreading fingers to hold a basketball or narrowing fingers to grasp a bag handle are technologies not yet realized even in Tesla robots," adding, "Using Mandro's robotic fingers, these are fully achievable at low cost."

Mandro gained attention at CES 2024, the world's largest IT show held in Las Vegas, USA, last January with their electronic prosthetic hand ‘Mark 7D’. During the event, Microsoft (MS) CEO Satya Nadella personally visited Mandro’s booth, showing interest and creating a buzz.

The Mark 7D is a robotic prosthetic hand designed for amputees who have lost part of their hand or arm. AI reads the small signals from the remaining finger nerves, enabling the prosthetic to move like a real hand. Users can finely adjust finger movements, speed, and gripping strength. It weighs only 200g, making it comfortable to wear all day. Another strength is its cost, which is reduced to one-twentieth of existing products priced around 10 million KRW.

Sangho Lee, CEO of Mandro
Photo by Mandro

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CEO Lee plans to challenge fields with lower development difficulty such as robotic mannequins and guide robots. As part of this, Mandro introduced a robotic mannequin earlier this year in collaboration with the fashion brand ‘Syndromes’ and AI voice company ‘Humelo’. Attaching arms to autonomous robots like patrol or serving robots is also an area where Mandro excels. CEO Lee believes that if autonomous robots have arms, their utility will increase by enabling actions such as opening and closing doors, picking up trash, and carrying objects.

They aim to target the humanoid robot market to ultimately secure the sustainability of the robotic prosthetic hand business. CEO Lee emphasized, "Our company vision is that no one should be unable to use electronic prosthetic hands due to lack of money," and added, "We will continue a sustainable and valuable business."

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