Selection of Institutions for the Ministry of Industry's Robot Industry Technology Development Project
Kogarobotics, a company specializing in artificial intelligence robots, is undertaking a national project to develop next-generation autonomous driving technology for robots that can find their way without high-definition maps.
On the 23rd, Kogarobotics announced that it has been selected as the executing institution for the project titled "Development of Visual Information Utilization Navigation Technology Based on Visual Language Model (VLM) for Dynamic Environment Understanding in Non-Learning Spaces" under the 2024 Industrial Technology Development Project in the Mechanical Robot Equipment field, led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Through this project, Kogarobotics will develop next-generation lightweight artificial intelligence (AI)-based technology that enables robots to autonomously navigate safely to their destinations by understanding commands and learning the environment without relying on high-definition maps or GPS signals, even in spaces they have never visited before.
Until now, robot autonomous driving technology has only been possible within limited areas where high-definition maps were pre-built and depended on external computing resources such as the cloud. Kogarobotics plans to implement next-generation AI technology that structures environmental information and interprets user commands based on the Visual Language Model (VLM). The project will be conducted over 45 months with a total budget of 5.3 billion KRW, in collaboration with the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, DGIST, Kwangwoon University, and ATEC Mobility.
Notably, this technology development features the implementation of 'on-device AI,' where all AI computations are processed internally by the robot itself without assistance from external computing resources like the cloud. For the robot to collect data and perform computations on its own power in new environments and to utilize AI models even when communication is unavailable, a lightweight AI model is essential. Kogarobotics will realize this based on hyperdimensional computing technology.
Kogarobotics plans to install the technology developed through this project in home-use robots and outdoor driving robots, conduct demonstration tests, and commercialize it. A Kogarobotics representative stated, "Being selected for this project is a recognition of Kogarobotics' next-generation AI capabilities and robot development skills," adding, "We will lead the future of the robot industry through AI technology based on hyperdimensional computing."
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