Lecture at the Hankyung CEO Jeju Summer Forum
Robotics as "the activity of transforming spaces and society through technology"
Announcement of MobED launch by year-end, "service development"
Hyun Dongjin, Executive Director and Head of Hyundai Motor Robotics Lab, served as a speaker on the second day of the 38th Korea Economic Association (Hankyung) CEO Jeju Summer Forum, held on July 17 at Lotte Hotel Jeju. He defined robotics as "the activity of transforming spaces through technology and changing society through those spaces," and stated, "We will provide sustainable robotics solutions that offer useful technology at affordable prices."
He also announced that the lab plans to launch its second mass-produced product, MobED, by the end of this year, and explained that services utilizing this platform are currently under development. MobED is a small mobility platform featuring a flat, rectangular body with four functional wheels.
Hyun Dongjin, head of Hyundai Motor Robotics Lab, is giving a presentation on "Spaces for People and Interactive Technology, Robotics" at the "2025 Hankyung CEO Jeju Summer Forum" held on the 17th at Lotte Hotel Jeju. Photo by Hankyung
In line with the forum’s theme, "Entrepreneurship That Turns Crisis Into Opportunity: Challenge and Innovation," Hyun gave a lecture titled "Spaces for People and Interactive Technology, Robotics," where he shared these insights.
Hyun emphasized, "When people hear 'robotics,' they often ask if it’s just about making robots, but that’s not all." He continued, "I believe management is not just about making money, but about philosophy. To solve problems based on this philosophy, technology is necessary. Robotics is about considering how to combine technologies to create new businesses."
He added, "In this regard, the Robotics Lab not only develops hardware but also creates software, and provides service solutions by integrating both. The goal is to solve social issues within living spaces through these efforts."
He cited the failure of mass production and lack of sustainability as reasons why previously developed robots such as Honda’s Asimo and SoftBank’s Pepper have not been commercialized. "For robotics to be sustainable, we must provide useful technology at an affordable price," he said. "Useful technology is not just about performance; it also requires consideration of quality control and maintenance. A representative example among Hyundai Motor Robotics Lab’s developments is the wearable robot 'Xble Shoulder.'" The Xble Shoulder is a wearable robot designed to assist workers’ shoulder strength in environments where they must repeatedly look upward. It was released in Korea this year and is scheduled for overseas sales next year.
Regarding affordability, Hyun referenced Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s Optimus robot and presented three concepts: standardization, modularization, and value enhancement.
He cited the Plug and Drive (PnD) module as an example of an affordable product developed by the Robotics Lab, stating, "When autonomous driving technology is applied to the PnD module, it can find optimized routes in given environments and move anywhere, which will contribute to an open ecosystem."
Hyun also stressed that, for new businesses to succeed, a service network must be added to the robotics supply chain. "Creating a virtuous cycle between the supply chain and sales/service network will amplify social impact and generate new opportunities to address social issues," he said.
He listed the lab’s target portfolio as purpose-built wearable robots, robotic arms for unstructured environments, context-based conversational AI, and Fleet Manager, a cloud platform for integrated management of heterogeneous robots. Regarding the increasingly prominent autonomous driving sector, he stated, "The key to autonomous driving is whether we can provide useful services at affordable prices through various sensor combinations. I can say with confidence that the day when useful technology becomes affordable is not far off. Hyundai Motor Robotics Lab is accelerating that timeline."
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