The Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI) has begun full-scale demonstration of a physical AI-based smart factory.

On the 23rd, KETI unveiled the '5G AMM (Autonomous Mobile Manipulator) Testbed' built in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, and began full-scale verification of physical AI technology for domestic manufacturing innovation.

This testbed demonstrated the future of smart factories by implementing a flexible production model in which around 10 robots collaborate simultaneously.

The testbed is designed to enable various robots to drive, operate, and perform tasks in an integrated manner within the factory.

KETI has developed its own AI intelligence module applicable to robots and established a foundation for verifying flexible production processes in actual manufacturing environments.

Through this, we have secured a technological foundation that can improve real-time response capabilities and production efficiency required in manufacturing sites.

In addition, KETI implemented the next-generation production processes of demand companies such as Shinsung Delta Tech Co., Ltd. and Inzi Controls Co., Ltd. in a test bed, presenting a future manufacturing model for the automotive parts and electronics industries.

As empirical research reflecting the needs of actual industrial sites becomes possible, the development of customized smart factory technologies for companies is expected to accelerate further.

KETI Intelligent Robotics Research Center is a joint research center of Sungkyunkwan University, Yonsei University, and Middot; We are continuously advancing AI and robot technologies applicable to the field through collaboration with major domestic universities such as Korea University and AI and robot specialized companies such as Cmes, Eugene Robot, and Safetyx.

In the future, we plan to open the testbed to research institutions and industries to increase the development efficiency of physical AI, on-device AI, humanoid robots, and manufacturing AX technologies and expand them across industries.

In particular, the KETI research team implemented a structure that distributes the AI intelligence modules required for robot operation to the robot-mounted PC and edge server.

Through this, we efficiently distributed the computational load and presented realistic physical AI operation technology required in actual manufacturing environments.

Additionally, by applying a network design that dualizes 5G specialized networks and Wi-Fi, we have secured the stability and reliability of AI-based robot operations in various manufacturing environments.

KETI Senior Researcher Kim Young-wook emphasized, “This testbed will serve as a platform to concretize domestic AI and robot-based physical AI technologies in a field-oriented manner and to promote cooperation and expansion across industries.” He added, “We will continue to develop technologies so that AI can create clear value in actual industrial settings.”

This research was conducted with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Institute for Information and Communications Technology Planning and Evaluation (IITP)'s 'Smart Manufacturing Innovation Technology Development Project' and was promoted through the project 'Development of Mobile Manipulating Technology for Driving, Operation, and Work in Smart Factories Based on Edge Brain Framework'.