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Lotte Himart joins state project to develop humanoid logistics robots
Коротко
Lotte Himart and Lotte Global Logistics said they will take part as demand companies in a state-funded project to develop industry-specialised humanoid robots and reduce reliance on foreign robots and AI models. Robot maker Yujin Robot leads the project, which runs to 2031, with Ceso and KETI as research institutes. Lotte Himart plans to put the robots to work at its Icheon logistics centre from 2028.
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Lotte Himart and Lotte Global Logistics said on October 7 that they are taking part as demand companies in the 2026 robot industry technology development project run by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology and Industry (KEIT) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The project is intended to develop industry-specialised humanoid robots domestically and to reduce reliance on foreign robots and AI models, according to the companies. Robot maker Yujin Robot leads the project, with Ceso and the Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI) as research institutes. The companies said the period runs from this year to 2031; Asia Economy reported it ends in March 2031, a total of five years. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
Lotte Himart plans to deploy the humanoid robots at its Icheon logistics centre from 2028. Under the plan, the robots would handle order confirmation, recognition of product models and options and barcodes, and picking and packing. Before that, the company intends to analyse processes in an environment that simulates the actual workplace by next year and to set demonstration scenarios and evaluation criteria. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
The company said appliance logistics involves many product models, capacities and colours, with similar-looking products and boxes of differing sizes, creating the possibility of mis-picking and wrong deliveries. It plans to accumulate data on the robots’ successes and failures, keep feeding improvements into the system, and test the possibility of a “fully autonomous continuous process” that can handle a range of exception cases. Shin Hyun-chae, head of Lotte Himart’s SCM division, said the introduction of humanoid robots would reduce worker fatigue and minimise errors such as mis-picking and wrong deliveries, and that the company would keep joining humanoid robot demonstrations to contribute to advancing logistics AI. [ 2 , 4 ]
Lotte Global Logistics has already tested a humanoid at its Jincheon fulfilment centre, according to Yonhap. The official news agency reported that the company put an AI bipedal humanoid into the centre last year and demonstrated processes from clothing picking to polybag packing. [ 3 ]
Lotte Himart’s participation follows its selection in May for the government’s AI application product rapid commercialisation support programme, known as AX Sprint. The company is using an exoskeleton suit at its Daegu logistics centre — which Asia Economy located in Chilgok county, North Gyeongsang Province — and is working on AI control algorithms suited to appliance distribution logistics. [ 2 , 4 ]
Почему это важно
The project pairs a major appliance retailer and its logistics arm with domestic robot and research institutes, an arrangement the documents describe as aimed at lowering dependence on foreign robots and AI models. If the 2028 deployment proceeds, order checking, product recognition, picking and packing at Lotte Himart's Icheon centre would be handled by humanoid robots rather than staff, which the company says would cut worker fatigue and picking and delivery errors.
Ключевые факты
- Lotte Himart and Lotte Global Logistics announced on October 7 that they are participating as demand companies in the 2026 robot industry technology development project run by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology and Industry (KEIT) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- Robot maker Yujin Robot leads the project, with Ceso and the Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI) as research institutes. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- The stated aim is to develop industry-specialised humanoid robots domestically and lower reliance on foreign robots and AI models. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- The project period runs from this year to 2031; Asia Economy reported the period ends in March 2031. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- Lotte Himart plans to deploy humanoid robots at its Icheon logistics centre from 2028, for order confirmation, product model and option and barcode recognition, picking and packing. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Before that, the company plans to analyse processes in a simulated environment by next year and fix demonstration scenarios and evaluation criteria. [ 2 , 4 ]
- Lotte Global Logistics tested an AI bipedal humanoid at its Jincheon fulfilment centre last year, covering processes from clothing picking to polybag packing, according to Yonhap. [ 3 ]
- Lotte Himart was also selected in May for the government’s AX Sprint programme and is using an exoskeleton suit at its Daegu logistics centre to develop AI control algorithms for appliance logistics. [ 2 , 4 ]
Подтверждено несколькими источниками
- Lotte Himart and Lotte Global Logistics are taking part as demand companies in the KEIT-run 2026 robot industry technology development project. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- The project is intended to develop industry-specialised humanoid robots and reduce dependence on foreign robots and AI models. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Yujin Robot is the lead company, with Ceso and KETI participating as research institutes. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- The project runs from this year to 2031. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- Lotte Himart plans to introduce humanoid robots at its Icheon logistics centre from 2028. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Пока неясно
- The project’s budget and the number of robots to be deployed are not stated in the documents. Neither the company announcements nor the reports give a funding figure or a robot count.
- How the demonstration will be judged beyond the stated scenarios and evaluation criteria is not specified. The documents say evaluation criteria will be set by next year but do not describe them.
- Details that may have appeared in the Newsis report could not be read. The Newsis item’s headline matches this project, but the article text available covers the Nuriho rocket launch, a separate event, so nothing further could be drawn from it.
Что пишут местные СМИ
Хронология, местное время
- Newsis and Electronic Times publish reports on the Lotte Himart humanoid robot project selection. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Yonhap reports that Lotte Himart and Lotte Global Logistics will join the state project to develop humanoid robots. [ 3 ]
- Asia Economy reports Lotte Himart’s plan to deploy humanoid robots at its logistics centre. [ 4 ]
- Asia Economy reports Lotte Global Logistics’ push for physical AI technology self-reliance. [ 5 ]