LG wins robot project from Incheon airport
LG CNS said Thursday it has won a license to place an intelligent robot control system at Incheon International Airport.
Under the project, the info-tech service arm of LG will join hands with LG Electronics to manufacture 14 robots and link them with the airport’s internal management system.
LG CNS did not unveil exact details of the contract, but said the deal is the biggest of all the intelligent robot projects conducted here so far.
It plans to complete the project by next June.
The robots, equipped with wireless telecommunication systems, will be used to provide a series of services for passengers. They include notification son how long passengers should wait at each immigration gate.
LG Electronics will design the robots featuring the firm’s self-driving and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
The robots will be used for a pilot test during the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games next February and be in use at the airport next June.
The LG affiliate said the robots have deep learning-based communication tools, which will allow t hem to recognize and process orders given in various languages.
LG CNS has pushed its robotics business since 2013 when it began to develop the required software technologies.
At that time, the IT service provider won an exclusive license to supply tablets for the humanoid robot Pepper from SoftBank.
Last year, the company also unveiled a software development kit for Pepper, helping Android developers here and abroad build robotics applications easily.
The move came as the company has in recent years identified intelligent robotics as its next emerging revenue area.
“Starting with the Incheon airport project, we are going to export our robot systems to major overseas airports particularly in Europe and the Middle East,” a company official said.
To expand its robotics presence, the company is seeking to adapt its intelligent robots for more diverse areas.
This May, it joined hands with Woori Bank to conduct a pilot test of robot financial services. As part of LG’s group-wide efforts in the emerging industry, LG CNS established a robot business division in July.
“We are going to continue piling up datasets to offer more sophisticated and accurate robot services and add a variety of AI technologies,” the official said.