The lobby, designed with a glass ceiling, resembles a vast "indoor garden." The vertical space from the first to the third floor is filled with large trees and plants, making it hard to distinguish whether it is an office or a park. This perfect landscaping is maintained by the watering robot "DAL-e." DAL-e travels throughout the expansive lobby, watering plants and automatically recharging in a designated rest area at scheduled times. When afternoon meetings begin, a delivery robot brings dozens of coffee cups to summoned employees. Meanwhile, Spot patrols the premises, monitoring for fire and security risks. This harmonious coexistence of humans and robots is part of Hyundai Motor Group's newly remodeled Yangjae office.
The newly introduced robots include the watering robot "DAL-e Gardener," the delivery robot "DAL-e Delivery," and the security robot "Spot."
The initiative reflects the companies' commitment to creating an environment where employees can coexist with robots while performing their daily tasks, advancing their goal of becoming a leader in physical AI.
DAL-e Gardener assists in maintaining the landscaping by supplying water to various plants throughout the office. It uses multiple sensors to gather information and recognizes the space in three dimensions, distinguishing between plants, soil, and flower beds. The robot arm can move up and down and rotate in six axes to spray water accurately.
If the water stored in the robot runs low, it communicates with the building's water supply system to automatically refill, while also draining any remaining water to maintain cleanliness, minimizing the need for human intervention.
DAL-e Delivery also began operations, delivering beverages from the first-floor café to designated pickup zones on each floor. Employees can order drinks via a mobile app, and DAL-e retrieves the beverages and delivers them to the requested location. It can carry up to 16 drinks simultaneously and features a facial recognition system for accurate delivery. The robot autonomously navigates complex spaces, avoiding obstacles as it moves.
The security robot Spot, developed by Boston Dynamics, has been equipped with an autonomous driving module created by Hyundai and Kia's Robotics Lab. This module allows Spot to recognize its surroundings and navigate autonomously, patrolling the building and performing security duties.
The Yangjae office features a robot-friendly environment with dedicated waiting areas and elevators for robots.
The three types of robots automatically recharge at a designated robot station on the first floor when their battery levels are low, and they can perform tasks independently while using the dedicated elevators to move between floors.
In addition to the robots, Hyundai and Kia have implemented a facial recognition system called "Facey" throughout the building to streamline access security procedures. The delivery robot DAL-e Delivery is integrated with Facey to identify the orderer without requiring separate authentication.
An integrated control system called "NARCHON" manages the various robots. Robot managers can access NARCHON via a web app from anywhere, allowing them to monitor the location, status, and charging information of registered robots in real time. They can also easily adjust robot schedules and control their locations, enabling efficient operation of multiple robots.
Through these efforts, the Yangjae office has received technical verification from UL Solutions, a global safety certification organization, confirming its suitability as a robot-friendly building.
Chung Euisun, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, stated, "As a company that plans and produces various robots, we have deployed actual robots so that employees can naturally encounter them in their workspaces. I expect this will create a positive feedback loop that allows us to directly experience the changing world and enhance our group's robotic technology competitiveness, leading to better product development."
He added, "In the future, the Yangjae office will serve as a testbed for improving the performance of more robots developed by Hyundai Motor Group, and I hope employees will gain inspiration for innovative ideas."
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.