KAIST Outlines Plan to Make Daejeon a Global Robotics Industry Hub

KAIST has outlined a blueprint to transform Daejeon into a global hub for the robotics industry.

On September 3, KAIST announced that it held a kickoff meeting for the "2025 Deep Tech Scale-up Valley Development Project" on its campus.

Participants are taking a commemorative photo after the kickoff meeting of the "2025 Deep Tech Scale-up Valley Development Project." Photo by KAIST

Previously, KAIST was selected as the final participant in this project, which is promoted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Innopolis Foundation. As a result of this selection, KAIST will receive a total project budget of 13.65 billion won over three years and six months.

Through this project, KAIST plans to establish a "Robot Valley" in Daejeon. The blueprint focuses on fostering innovative robotics companies based on KAIST's proprietary technologies and advancing Daejeon as a global center for the robotics industry.

The project will be carried out according to phased strategies, including promoting the commercialization of robotics technologies, supporting the startup ecosystem, securing global technological competitiveness, and developing a robotics commercialization platform. It will also establish a virtuous cycle structure of "technology development → startup and investment growth → reinvestment."

Through these efforts, KAIST aims to ensure that the project not only supports individual companies but also leads to the joint growth of the entire robotics industry. Leading robotics companies such as Angel Robotics and Eurobotics will share common core technologies-such as actuators, circuits, artificial intelligence, and standard data-through open innovation. Startups, in turn, will be supported to focus on developing robotics products tailored to customer needs using these shared technologies. This is the core of the initiative.

Conceptual diagram of the "2025 Deep Tech Scale-up Valley Development Project." Provided by KAIST

Above all, KAIST is committed to developing "Human-Friendly Robots (HFR)" as part of the project. The significance lies in not limiting robots to the concept of simple automated machines, but enabling them to become collaborative partners that share space, roles, and emotions with humans.

The project involves a large group of key robotics researchers, including Professor Kim Jung from the Department of Mechanical Engineering (project leader), Professor Lee Geonjae from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Professor Myung Hyun from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Professor Kong Kyungchul from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Professor Bae Seokhyeong from the Department of Industrial Design.

Lee Kwanghyung, President of KAIST, stated, "KAIST will spare no effort in supporting Daejeon's growth into a global robotics hub," adding, "This project will not only go beyond simple research and development to create future growth engines for the region and the nation, but will also serve as a stepping stone for KAIST to stand at the center of the global robotics ecosystem."

Meanwhile, KAIST plans to form an "HFR Valley Innovation Council" with Daejeon City in the future to share and review project outcomes, and to use this as a foundation for establishing a self-sustaining ecosystem.