SEOUL - South Korea,
a late starter in personal and home robotics, has rapidly narrowed
the technology gap with Japan and countries in
the West.
Personal robots are rapidly
evolving to substitute for a growing number of complex
human tasks.
The latest breakthroughs by Western
and Japanese high-tech companies include an eight-legged
robot controlled by natural language, an autonomous
walking bi-pedal robot, intelligent robots with 24
degrees of freedom and advanced humanoids already under
development.
Sony Corp's surprisingly life-like
home robot that looks and acts like a dog, as well as
its humanoid robots, recently wowed Japanese consumers,
while Honda's Asimo robot can walk like a human being
and even climb stairs.
In recent years, South
Korea's start-up companies and state-run labs have
amazed the global robotics industry by rolling out
highly sophisticated yet reasonably priced robotics
products.
A human-like home security robot, a
mobile robot controlled simply by brain waves and eye
movements, a high-speed intelligent robot intended for
dangerous military and life-saving operations on rough
terrain and a ubiquitous software-based,
three-dimensional robot are among the South Korean
accomplishments that came into the global spotlight this
year.
Keenly aware of the enormous
economic potential of robotics, the South Korean government
has recently designated robotics as one of the nation's most
promising next-generation industrial fields.
Indeed, it has announced a plan to spend
1.8 trillion won (US$1.55 billion) from the state
coffers and will induce the private sector to invest another 1.7
trillion won on research and development in intelligent
robotics and nine other strategic growth products over
the next five years.
Whereas an industrial robot
is designed to perform a routine task in manufacturing,
a personal robot is designed to work and perform
activities for its user.
Advanced industrial and
military robots are also replacing humans in dangerous
duties or on tedious assembly lines.
Lims
Technology Co, a start-up based in Daedeok Science Town
in Daejeon, about 160 kilometers south of Seoul,
surprised the world's robotics industry in late May with
the successful development of mobile robots controlled
by wireless, neural headsets.
In the long term,
the company will apply the neural headset technology to
medical, welfare, military and sports fields, including
the development of robotic wheelchairs.
"Unlike
rival neural headsets developed by Western firms, Lims
Technology's headsets can independently operate without
the support of computer terminals or personal digital
assistants," said Hong Doo-ki, a Lims Technology
engineer.
"In addition, the Lims Technology
headset can be conveniently worn over natural hair,
while other neural headsets require users to apply
gel-like liquids for smooth mechanical operation."
Above all, price competitiveness will be the
strongest weapon, Hong said, adding that talks are under
way with US investors on the commercialization of the
new neural headset for robotic toys.
The
Seoul-based Mostitech is another rising star in the
global robotics industry. The venture company will soon
release a three-wheeled robot that can roam the house,
scouting for burglars, fires and gas leaks while
transmitting images via the Internet or mobile
telecommunications to its owner.
Besides
security features, Mostitech's robot, named "Seri", can
read a book to children and carry out 20 types of
conversations with visitors.
Thus far, the home
security robot market has been the domain of Japanese
consumer electronics manufacturers, which already have
several such robots ranging in price from 200,000 yen (2
million won) to 2 million yen.
With a price tag
of less than 1 million won ($858), however, the
Korean-developed Seri, which is 50 centimeters tall and
weighs only 12 kilograms, is expected to rock the global
personal robot market, analysts forecast.
For
instance, the Japanese-built "Banryu" robot, which has
similar functions with "Seri", sells for about $18,000.
In recognition of the enmormous potential of
"Seri", Fortune recently put Mostitech on its 2004 list
of 15 Cool Companies.
"Robotics is an
integration of advanced information technologies. It is
one of South Korea's future strategic fields," said Park
Sang-hoon, who founded Mostitech in May 2001.
Park said his firm kept the price lower by using
cheaper and simpler mechanisms, such as wheels instead
of the mechanical legs used by Japanese robots.
South Korea's biggest mobile phone carrier, SK
Telecom, plans to integrate "Seri" into its home network
service in the second half of this year, while Mostitech
plans to further upgrade the robot's face-recognition
capability.
"Unlike the limited existing
services that inform customers of emergency situations
at home through a fixed camera or sensor, this service
lets customers constantly monitor all conditions on a
real-time basis through a moving robot," an SK Telecom
official said.
"In particular, if strangers
break into a house, the moving robot takes their photos
and transmits them in real time. Or if a fire or gas
leak occurs, the robot's automatic detection and alarm
sensor transmits the emergency situation to the
customer's handset immediately."
Meanwhile, a
high-speed intelligent mobile robot developed by the
state-run Korea Institute of Science and Technology
(KIST) will soon be deployed in Iraq to assist the South
Korean Army in patrolling and detecting mines and
explosives, KIST officials said.
The Robot for
Hazardous Application (ROBHAZ)-DT3, invented by the
KIST-affiliated Intelligent Robotics Research Center, is
credited with a wide range of applications, including
scouting and detecting mines, bombs, and chemical or
radiological weapons.
For civilian affairs, the
four-tracked robot can also be used for life-saving
purposes, particularly in the event of fires and
earthquakes.
While a number of US and British
companies sell robots for dangerous tasks, ROBHAZ has a
competitive edge in price, senior KIST engineer Kang
Sung-chul said.
Last April, Kang's team supplied
a robot to a Japanese international disaster rescue
organization, marking the first export of a South Korean
nonindustrial robot, he said.
As early as the
mid-1990s, KIST developed the nation's first intelligent
humanoid robot, "Centaur", which has a human-like upper
body and four legs.
(Asia Pulse/Yonhap)
Jun 3, 2004
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