Founded in Mar. 2024 by CEO Kim Jun-ha, Diden Robotics is a startup developing a quadrupedal wall-climbing robot for use in shipyards and steel structure worksites. Kim, formerly of the Humanoid Robot Research Center (HUBO Lab) at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), formed a full-stack robotics team of four co-founders covering both hardware and software. He set out a vision to "build robots that solve real problems in industrial sites."
Kim said, "After conducting market research for nearly a year, we concluded that there is no industrial site with a clearer demand for automation than shipyards."
The wall-climbing robot under development by Diden Robotics has the advantage of mobility, climbing up and down walls and moving through narrow interior blocks. This is a clear differentiator from conventional industrial robots centered on fixed robotic arms. Kim said, "Shipbuilding involves large components and many confined spaces, so the need for mobile robots
is absolute in this industry," adding, "We develop everything in-house from hardware to algorithms, and we have secured world-class model predictive control (MPC) technology."
Kim also emphasized, "To improve AI training performance, we combine supervised learning and reinforcement learning, and humans directly control the robot to secure high-quality data," adding, "As a team strong in physical AI, we are delivering optimized performance in both hardware and software."
Diden Robotics has completed prototype development and is currently conducting a proof of concept (PoC) at a shipyard site. Initially, six robots will be operated in a semi-automatic mode controlled by one skilled worker, and later the system will advance to full automation. Kim said, "In the first half of next year, we will deploy the bipedal 'Diden Walker' for field tests and in 2027 we plan to launch the commercial model 'Diden30.'"
Diden Robotics is initially targeting welding automation, with plans to expand to blasting, painting, and inspection work. Kim said, "Shipbuilding faces a severe labor shortage and strong demand for automation, making it optimal as an initial market," adding, "We will later expand across the steel-based industries such as construction and plants to enter a wide range of industrial sites."
The market for mobile robots in the shipbuilding and steel structure industries is estimated at about 10 trillion won annually. The shipbuilding workforce has fallen from 200,000 in the past to about 80,000, but shipyard orders already cover five years, worsening the labor shortage. Kim emphasized, "Shipbuilding is directly connected to the global market, so success at home translates into global success."
Diden Robotics recently secured a pre-Series A investment of 7 billion won and is preparing a follow-on round in the second half of next year. Kim said, "Diden Robotics is not building robots for simple showing, but robots that solve problems in real industrial sites," adding, "Based on world-class legged robot control technology, we will start in shipyards and expand to industrial sites worldwide."