ID :
66586
Fri, 06/19/2009 - 10:05
Auther :

S. Korea vies to be world's leader in robots


By Kim Young-gyo
SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- Four-year old Hubo can jog at clip of about 3.6 km per
hour, compared to an average adult who manages somewhere between 7 to 10 km per
hour.

He returns handshakes with a firm grip and, unlike others of his kind, can
keep up with the best at rock-paper-scissors, his fingers fully mobile.
South Korea's first two-legged walking robot, Hubo is one of many achievements
that have distinguished the country's robotics industry. His name a condensed
form of the term "humanoid robot," Hubo was recently adopted by the U.S. National
Science Foundation as a "textbook" model of such technology.
Prof. Oh Jun-ho at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
in the central city of Daejeon predicts that Hubo will eventually serve as an
"Adam," or prototype for other humanoid robots whose overall appearance is based
on that of the human body.
The creator of Hubo notes that a U.S. research team, joined by five universities
including the University of Pennsylvania, is currently studying Hubo's
interactions with made-for-human tools or environments.
"There was uneasiness among some of the U.S. scientists that the U.S. might fall
behind South Korea and Japan in the field of humanoid robotics," he said.
"The United States has been concentrating mainly on artificial intelligence,
while South Korea and Japan have made outstanding progresses in developing robots
that move like humans."
There is a niche in the global robotics market for South Korea, as U.S.
manufacturers have been relatively slow in developing non-industrial and
non-surveillance robots, according to Prof. Oh, who adds that concerns over
cost-effectiveness prevented his American counterparts from pursuing the
technology more aggressively.
Scientists in the U.S. took a very pragmatic approach to making robots, as the
more complex designs required to produce humanoid robots demanded higher costs
without the promise of substantial returns, he notes.
"What I am most proud of is that Hubo was made within a very short period of time
and with a limited budget," Oh said.
Beginning with test models in 2002 and just 50 million won (US$39,000) from his
personal savings, Oh worked for the next three years with a 150 million won fund
that was later provided by the government. Hubo came into being in 2004.
Earlier this year, the South Korean government tapped the robotics industry as
one of the country's key potential growth sectors and decided to support projects
such as Oh's.
Now on the verge of a major expansion, South Korea's robotics industry is aiming
to take the lead in the global market just as it became a global powerhouse in
the information technology sector.
According to recent industry reports, the global robotics market was valued at
$17.3 billion in 2008 and is expected to increase to $17.6 billion in 2009 and
$21.4 billion in 2014 for an annual growth rate of 4.0 percent.
By 2014, domestic and professional service robots are expected to hold a
70-percent share of the market, surpassing that of industrial robots that held
the largest market share in 2008 worth some $11.5 billion.
The government announced plans in March of this year to inject 1 trillion won
into the domestic robotics industry to turn it into one of the top three global
robot manufacturers by 2013.
South Korea currently ranks fifth in the world, according to the International
Federation of Robotics. Japan leads the sector, followed by the United States,
Germany and Italy.
The government anticipates that the increased spending will boost the country's
share in the global robotics industry to 13.3 percent by the target year from 5.7
percent in 2007.
With its emphasis on service-oriented robots, the government has divided its plan
into three segments, in accordance with the level of sophistication and type of
function required of particular robots.
The first category involves robots programmed for manufacturing, education and
cleaning, while the second is composed of more sophisticated robots designed for
entertainment, fire fighting, elderly care, transportation and other complex
tasks that require a higher degree of autonomy and capacity.
The third group relates to unmanned vehicles in the air or on water, prosthetic
body parts and clothing for amputees or for people who have trouble walking.
Kim Mun-sang, a scientist at the government-funded Korea Institute of Science and
Technology (KIST), plans to fully commercialize a companion robot by 2013.
Silbot, its name coined from the phrase "a robot for the silver generation," was
designed to be a secretary and helper for the elderly, Kim explained.
"By 2013, we will be able to develop a robot that can serve meals or make beds,"
Kim said about the robot, which currently moves on three wheels instead of legs.
As the population in advanced countries ages, the demand for personal-care robots
will rise, Kim said.
"U.S. and Japanese robot manufactures have already started to target the market
for home health care, especially for the elderly."
"We can only imagine how these robots will bring change to our lives," he
continued. "We did not know before how computers and the Internet would change
our lives."
Kim, who is director of the Center for Intelligent Robotics at KIST, said that
South Korea needs to fully utilize its strength as a global leader of information
technology in order to survive the competition from front-runners in the
industry.
"A network is an indispensable factor for a personal robot. We will be able to
create a new robot service, converging robotics with information technologies,"
Kim said.
A day when every home has a robot will come just as the day that every home has a
personal computer did, Kim predicted.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
(END)

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