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LG Electronics / 80 billion won investment in Bear Robotics to upgrade logistics robot capabilities

80 billion won investment in Bear Robotics to upgrade logistics robot capabilities

'Transition to software-centered robots' to secure scalability of service robots

2024/04

LG Electronics is accelerating its capabilities in the commercial robotics business, including delivery and logistics, which it is developing as one of its future new businesses, through strategic investments.

LG Electronics has invested 60 million U.S. dollars (approximately 80 billion won) in Bear Robotics, an AI-based autonomous service robot startup based in Redwood City, Silicon Valley, and signed a share subscription agreement to acquire a stake in Bear Robotics.

The equity investment is not a financial investment that seeks short-term returns, but rather a strategic investment that aims to upgrade its business portfolio. Upon closing of the transaction, LG Electronics will become the largest single shareholder of Bear Robotics.

Founded in 2017, Bear Robotics provides AI-based autonomous indoor delivery robots in Korea, the U.S., and Japan. It has a number of engineers from big tech companies such as Google, and its robot development capabilities based on open platforms are rated as one of the best in the world. In particular, it is attracting attention from the industry for its outstanding capabilities in the areas of platformization of commercial robot software, swarm control technology to control multiple robots, and cloud-based control solutions.

“LG Electronics' commercial robotics business is mainly focused on service areas such as delivery and logistics, and we are open to the possibility of equity investment or M&A, and are carefully watching the development direction,” said CEO Jo Ju-Wan.

Open and scalable robot software platform

LG Electronics believes that the paradigm of commercial robots will shift to AI-based software-driven robots (SDRs). It is the same as the mobility trend from hardware to software. In the future, when the commercial robot market opens in earnest, it will be essential to secure the scalability of service robots based on an open software platform to provide services in various spaces, and standardization of AI-based autonomous robot platforms will be crucial for this.

From this perspective, LG Electronics expects that this strategic investment will provide an opportunity to rapidly enhance the capabilities of the robotics business, which is being cultivated as a new business in the future.

Through years of robotics business, LG Electronics has accumulated know-how in robotics solutions in various commercial spaces such as airports, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, stores, museums, smart logistics centers, and golf courses. The LG Future Park in Gumi, Gyeongbuk, has its own production facility for commercial robots.

Adding to this, BearBotics' global R&D infrastructure and software platform capabilities are expected to lead the standardization of robot platforms and innovatively lower the cost of entry into the market, leading to greater business efficiency and synergy.

“Just as Android opened the era of smartphones, we need a standardized and open platform to revitalize the robot market,” said Jungwoo Ha, CEO of Bear Robotics.

Over the past few years, LG Electronics has been focusing its resources on future high-growth areas instead of drastically exiting marginal businesses such as mobile phones and solar power, considering the market conditions and strategic value of its business model. The equity investment is also a step toward accelerating the early full-scale commercial robotics business, which is being nurtured as a new business.

LG Electronics has been continuously fostering robotics as one of its future businesses. Beginning with the Incheon International Airport guide robot service in 2017, the company has introduced solutions optimized for various commercial spaces such as delivery and quarantine. Since last year, the company has also begun to target overseas markets such as the U.S., Japan, and Southeast Asian countries.

The service robot market is expected to grow rapidly as related technologies such as AI and communication develop rapidly and the number of productive people continues to decline due to the declining birthrate and aging population. The global service robot market is expected to grow from $36.2 billion (about 48 trillion won) in 2021 to $103.3 billion (about 137 trillion won) by 2026.

“In the mid- to long-term, we will explore various opportunities by combining with differentiated technology areas such as embedded AI and advanced robot manipulation to make the robotics business a future growth engine,” said Lee Sam-soo, CSO of LG Electronics.

Introducing Modexer AI logistics robot 'LG Chloe Carrybot'

Meanwhile, LG Electronics introduced a lineup of AI-based industrial robots that cover the entire logistics process from product pickup to inspection and delivery at the 'MODEX 2024' held in the United States from the 11th to the 14th of last month.

LG Electronics introduced two AI logistics robots, the LG Chloe Carrybot, which specializes in transporting large quantities of goods to destinations based on autonomous driving. The robots come in two types: a stacking type that separates and divides items, and a roll container type that carries large quantities of items behind the main body.

The LG Chloe Carrybot can quickly transport goods in large logistics sites at a speed of up to 1.2 m/s, while applying 'Fast-X', a proprietary driving technology optimized for logistics environments, such as average driving/curve speed and acceleration/deceleration control, for stable driving.

To control logistics robots, which move dozens or more simultaneously in large and complex spaces, it is important to have advanced control technology such as ▲ AI-based autonomous driving ▲ 5G or higher high-speed communication technology for interaction between robots ▲ and big data processing to collect surrounding information.

LG Chloe Carrybot receives order information in conjunction with the customer's WMS and efficiently distributes tasks considering the movement of each robot. In addition, it analyzes and provides optimal driving routes for multiple robots based on AI, as well as enables location checks, remote calls, and operation status inquiries through the control system (LG CLOi Station).