Hyundai, IGIS sign deal to develop robot-friendly buildings

Hyundai Motor Group said on Tuesday that it has signed a business agreement with IGIS Asset Management Co., the largest real estate investment firm in South Korea, to develop robot-friendly buildings.

Under the agreement, Hyundai Motor Group's various robot technologies, including indoor and outdoor delivery robots, unmanned parking robots, guide and reception robots, electric vehicle charging robots, personal mobility devices and unmanned delivery systems, will be linked to the smart building operating system being developed by IGIS Asset Management.

The two companies plan to build these robot-friendly buildings at the core hubs of future advanced industries and jointly develop robot services optimized for their work environments. The smart buildings will feature customized robotics services reflecting the operational methods of the occupying companies. These services will include automatic parking and charging, access management through facial recognition, smart seat reservations, food and beverage robot delivery and unmanned delivery systems.

Hyundai Motor Group intends to apply this "robotics total solution" to newly constructed buildings in major domestic locations such as the Seoul Bio Cluster and the Seongsu Creative Cluster. The first robot-friendly building to be built through collaboration between the two companies is the "Factorial Seongsu," a smart office building of IGIS Asset Management that is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of next year.

Within the Hyundai Motor Group, Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp.'s Robotics Lab will be responsible for supplying hardware and software solutions, building design support, and technology review, while Hyundai Glovis Co. will be responsible for operating unmanned delivery systems and last-mile delivery services using robots.

Hyundai Wia will be responsible for major robot hardware production and unmanned parking robot solutions, while Hyundai Engineering & Construction will participate in the development of optimal design and construction technology for robot-friendly buildings.

IGIS Asset Management will provide newly constructed real estate sites and support linkage between Hyundai Motor Group's robotics solutions and building infrastructure.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com