Increasing Delivery Robots to 50 Units Navigating Songdo Downtown

Expansion of Korea's First Commercial Autonomous Robot Delivery Service

The autonomous robot delivery service that began last month in the Songdo area of Incheon is set to expand. Newbility, a robotics company operating the country’s first large-scale urban robot delivery commercial service here, and the delivery app Yogiyo plan to double the number of robots deployed within the year and add more waiting locations for the robots to promote robot delivery. Based on this, they are also preparing to launch a robot delivery commercial service in downtown Seoul next year.

According to industry sources on the 16th, Newbility and Yogiyo have decided to expand the number of autonomous delivery robots called ‘Newbee’ deployed in Songdo to 50 units within the year. Newbility started this service in cooperation with Yogiyo on the 9th of last month, and currently 24 robots are in operation. As the number of robots increases, the number of waiting locations will also expand from the current six to eleven. This means that in Songdo, it will become common to see robots performing deliveries or waiting in everyday life.

Newbility explained that they currently have partnerships with over 120 stores performing deliveries, and more stores continuously want to use robot delivery. Even though they are not actively promoting the service for stabilization purposes, orders choosing robot delivery are coming in daily in double digits, so it is expected to increase further as infrastructure expands.

Autonomous robots are performing delivery tasks in urban areas.

The Songdo service is significant as the first commercial case of outdoor robot delivery, and this expansion indicates that the service has passed the stabilization phase enough to deploy more robots over a wider area. It means that an urban robot delivery operation system for delivery industry innovation has been established.

The ‘Newbee’ robot used in this service is an autonomous delivery robot developed with Newbility’s own technology, which obtained outdoor mobile robot operation safety certification in January, granting it the same legal status as pedestrians. The robot travels at a maximum speed of 5.76 km/h according to current laws on less crowded paths for faster delivery, and safely reduces speed when encountering people, obstacles, or narrow sidewalks. In Songdo, it performs delivery tasks in areas such as apartment complexes or office buildings where distances are short and rider supply is difficult. Customers who order food through the Yogiyo app’s ‘robot delivery’ option can meet the robot at a designated location and receive their food once the delivery completion message sounds.

Notably, Newbility reduced robot production costs and laid the foundation for large-scale deployment by using artificial intelligence (AI) technology that allows stable movement in complex urban environments using only cameras instead of expensive LiDAR sensors. Newbility and Yogiyo plan to deploy about 2,000 delivery robots and expand service areas nationwide. They will focus on the Songdo service first and start services in Seoul from next year. Lee Sang-min, CEO of Newbility, said, “Delivery robots have now become not just innovative technology but a technology that improves the actual urban delivery environment and contributes to local communities by innovating daily life. We will continue to develop technology and collaborate with partners to build and provide a stable and efficient urban robot delivery operation system.”