In smart production systems, Korea has the widest gap with leading countries.

# Mr. K's home is guarded by a 24-hour security robot, both inside and out. Furthermore, a housekeeping robot, which assists with household chores like cooking and cleaning, has increased his leisure time. Robots are also in charge of his children's education. Educational robots provide children with a variety of immersive audiovisual materials. His parents, who live in the countryside, also have less to worry about thanks to the robots. A health assistant robot monitors his parents' health and prevents, diagnoses, and treats various diseases. Any abnormalities are immediately reported to Mr. K and his attending physician via smartphone. In the rural area where his parents live, using agricultural robots to farm has become a daily routine. If someone is injured during farming, a surgical robot is dispatched. The surgical robot captures images of the injured area, transmits them, and a remote doctor activates the robot to begin the surgery. Near the end of the surgery, a drone dispatched in advance transports the patient to a larger hospital.

An era is approaching in which intelligent robots that recognize the external environment, judge situations on their own, and act autonomously will become commonplace.

This is because intelligent robots are evolving into technologies that can perform collaborative work with humans or support highly specialized services along with the development of artificial intelligence.

Currently, robots lack the freedom and safety of humans and are only capable of performing simple tasks. However, in the future, personal/professional service robots and smart production systems will be highly developed. Personal robots aim to improve the quality of life by supporting individuals in their daily activities, such as health, maintenance, education, and entertainment. Professional robots are non-manufacturing robots that provide specialized services useful for human welfare, such as healthcare and national defense, or for specific facilities or special purposes. Smart production systems consist of systems that monitor and control the production process, encompassing unmanned factories for product ordering, design, quality inspection, material management, and warehouse management.


▲ SoftBank's Pepper has a patent for an 'emotion engine' that determines actions based on emotional values and user status that express emotions.
(Capture from SoftBank website)

The development of these intelligent robots is closely aligned with the development of artificial intelligence. A prime example is Google's AlphaGo, which emerged last year and sparked tremendous interest in AI. AlphaGo combines deep learning with the Monte Carlo algorithm to learn Go on its own, much like a human. To achieve this self-learning, AlphaGo utilizes two fundamental neural networks: a policy network and a value network. Rather than simply increasing computer hardware capacity, such as CPUs, AlphaGo's performance is enhanced by improving its algorithms.

Intelligent robots are expected to flourish in 2020, fueled by the expansion of the service robot market. Amazon is already leveraging robotics technology for its logistics systems, and Google has acquired several robotics companies. In Korea, Samsung Techwin unveiled the mobile surveillance robot "Star M" in 2014 and has also filed a patent for an autonomous driving algorithm. Boston Dynamics' BigDog, a dog-riding robot, participated in large-scale military exercises, but was not adopted by the US Army due to its loud noise. SoftBank's Pepper, the first humanoid robot aimed at the consumer market, heralded the era of cloud-connected robotic assistants. Pepper's built-in emotion engine allows it to recognize and simulate human emotions.

Patent Trends: The U.S. Leads the Intelligent Robotics Field

The US dominates the intelligent robotics field, with 10,360 patent applications, representing 46% of the total. Annual filing trends show a global upward trend in patent applications, with Korea ranking second only to the US in filings since 2009. Patents related to robot vacuum cleaners, particularly those from Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, are on the rise. The US Patent Office (USPTO) receives the most patent applications across all technological fields, while the Korean Patent Office (KIPO) receives the most patents in personal robots, professional robots, and smart production systems, in that order.

Looking at annual trends by subcategory of intelligent robots, patent applications for personal robots are increasing, while those for professional robots and smart production systems remain at a steady level, with no significant increase or decrease. The United States holds the highest market share in personal robots and smart production systems, while Japan holds the highest market share in professional robots. Korea was found to have the smallest gap with leading countries in specialized robots, while it had the largest gap with leading countries in smart production systems.

▲ In future logistics robot scenarios, Amazon plans to deploy robots that automatically pick products or package items at high speeds in a supply system by detecting product information with sensors rather than wirelessly transmitted commands . ( Video capture of Amazon logistics robot Kiva)

This patent share is similarly reflected in the analysis of key market penetration rates. US applicants had the highest key market penetration rate at 38.7%, while Korean applicants had the highest penetration rate at 14.7%, ranking third after the US and Japan. Examining litigation by subcategory in the intelligent robot field, personal robots had the most litigated patents at 55, followed by professional robots at 30 and smart production systems at 4. Among litigated patents, professional robots had the most patents with current rights holders being NPEs at 8, followed by personal robots at 6, and smart production systems at 0.

Examining patent transactions, the most common category was personal robots, with 591 patents, followed by professional robots (266), and smart production systems (96). Among these patents, NPEs acquired the most patents, with 19 for personal robots, 18 for professional robots, and 0 for smart production systems. The intelligent robot industry, which has now entered a mature phase, is expected to enter a period of decline by 2026, as technologies related to intelligent robots, including artificial intelligence technology, battery technology, actuator technology, sensing technology, and component technology, are rapidly developing across all industries.

Evolving toward increasing the autonomy of robots through integration with artificial intelligence.

An analysis of major applicants over the past five years reveals that Korea focuses on personal robots, the US is strong in smart production systems, and Japan has achieved a balanced development of both personal and professional robots. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics sell robot vacuum cleaners, so they hold a large proportion of robot vacuum cleaner-related patents among personal robots. Samsung Heavy Industries holds the largest number of patents for inspection and maintenance robots among professional robots. In the US, IROBOT holds a large number of patents for personal robots, focusing on robot vacuum cleaners. IBM holds a large number of patents for professional robots, particularly logistics robots. Apple holds a large number of patents for smart production systems. In Japan, Toyota and Sony hold patents for both personal and professional robots, while YASKAWA holds the largest number of patents for smart production systems, albeit with a smaller number.

Intelligent robots are currently commercialized in the early stages of service robots, primarily providing specialized services. From a patent-based perspective, technological development is currently focused on improving the hardware and software capabilities of current robots. In the long term, the industry is expected to evolve toward greater autonomy through integration with artificial intelligence. (This article is based on a report analyzing promising future products and services from the Korea Intellectual Property Strategy Institute (KISTA).)