Top Engineering, a company specializing in inspection process equipment, announced on October 13 that it has been selected as the lead research and development (R&D) company for the consortium developing an "AI Autonomous Manufacturing System for Flexible Production of Communication and Radar Modules for Advanced Defense Weapon Systems."
This project, with Hanwha Systems participating as the demand company, is a large-scale R&D consortium aimed at automating the production of key components in advanced defense weapon system projects. The total project budget is 11.2 billion KRW (approximately 8.2 million USD), and the project is scheduled to run until December 2029.
Currently, manufacturing processes rely heavily on manual labor and are highly dependent on personnel due to multi-product, manual production, making it difficult to respond quickly to demand. This consortium aims to develop an AI factory platform for the flexible production of defense weapon communication components, targeting a 20% improvement in productivity, a defect rate of 0.5% or less, and a 60% reduction in process lead time.
Supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the project involves Top Engineering as the lead R&D institution, along with Unique Robotics, OnePredict, Agile Software, Gumi Electronics & Information Technology Research Institute, and the Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation of Kyungwoon University. The consortium will develop AI technologies such as: ▲ manufacturing process data collection and analysis AI models utilizing complex sensing technology ▲ AI-based production process optimal control and production autonomy technology ▲ AI vision algorithm-based quality control technology ▲ tool change robot-based assembly, inspection, and flexible multi-product production technology ▲ equipment anomaly detection, defect, and failure prediction technology based on manufacturing equipment and environmental data.
Top Engineering will oversee the overall system development for AI autonomous manufacturing, including the development and integration system design of unit process equipment for the first phase of the autonomous manufacturing system, and the construction and demonstration evaluation of the autonomous manufacturing system in the second phase.
A Top Engineering representative stated, "Through the commercialization of next-generation manufacturing systems that integrate AI and robotics technology, we expect to enhance the level of manufacturing automation in Korea’s defense industry and anticipate the wider adoption of these technologies in the private manufacturing sector in the future."
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