Gov't to spend 10 bln won to develop advanced medical, surveillance robots

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details, comments in paras 3, 5-9)
By Lee Joon-seung
SEOUL, July 27 (Yonhap) -- The government said Monday it will spend 10 billion
won (US$8 million) in the next year to develop technologies for advanced medical
and surveillance robots in a bid to help South Korean firms capitalize on growing
demand in the two sectors.
The research and development (R&D) fund will be provided to Curexo Inc. and
Samsung Techwin Co. in an effort to help the country cut back on imports and make
inroads into overseas markets, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said.
Curexo will get 4 billion won and work with Samsung Medical Center to develop a
medical robot that specializes in artificial joint surgery, while Samsung Techwin
plans to team up with the state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) to build a
robot that can guard important facilities against unauthorized entry and protect
property from damage. The observation robot project will get 6 billion in state
R&D funds.
The local market for robots able to conduct human joint surgery stood at 92
billion won as of last year, up 50.8 percent from the previous year, according to
the ministry. Because the country does not make such machines, all local demand
is met by imports.
"Surgical and observation robotics have good market potential and the government
is willing to provide additional support to facilitate follow-up investment by
local companies and to help fuel exports," said Vice Knowledge Economy Minister
Rim Che-min.
The global market for medical robots, which came to US$2.88 billion in 2008, is
expected to top $7.34 billion in 2013. It has grown by an average of 20 percent
every year.
The worldwide market for upper-end observation robots also has considerable
growth potential, with industry sources predicting that the global market will
grow 38.6 percent from 2008 to $13.3 billion in 2012.
Such robots can be used to protect facilities such as oil bunkers and production
systems. They cost less to maintain than hiring security guards and can be
programmed to conduct security operations without rest.
As part of its efforts to meet growing demand for such robots in oil-rich
countries, Samsung plans to set up an observation system at an oil bunker
operated by the KNOC, which can be used as a testbed to check the capabilities of
surveillance robots.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)