The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources' regulatory sandbox committee granted the trial a special exemption on Oct. 13, on condition that it meets additional requirements.
The decision lets the robots patrol Cheoncheon Stream, Cheonhoji Lake and Cheonan Three-way Intersection Park.
The robots, built by consortium member Maum.AI, use physical AI to sense their surroundings and move through real spaces. When floods or crimes break out, they can guide people to safety and send live footage to a control center so responders can act early.
Legs let the machines climb stairs and slopes that rail-mounted patrol robots cannot reach, covering blind spots that closed-circuit cameras miss, the city said.
Wheeled delivery robots have been allowed on South Korean sidewalks since November 2023 once they pass a government safety certification. The ministry called the Cheonan trial the first to let a four-legged robot patrol pedestrian roads.
"We will make Cheonan a testbed where physical AI and other AI technologies are tested and verified in real urban spaces," said Cheonan Mayor Jang Ki-soo.
AJP Takeaways
- Cheonan will run South Korea's first trial of four-legged patrol robots on pedestrian paths, at Cheoncheon stream, Cheonho Reservoir and Samgeori Park.
- The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources' regulatory sandbox committee gave the trial conditional approval on Oct. 13, 2026. The robots were built by Maum AI.
- The robots are meant to reach stairs and slopes that wheeled or rail-mounted robots and CCTV cannot cover. Wheeled delivery robots have been allowed on Korean sidewalks since November 2023.
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