On the 29th at the AeiROBOT lab at Hanyang University ERICA Campus in Ansan, Gyeonggi. The Humanoid Robot Alice 4, developed by AeiROBOT, picked up a box placed on a shelf, turned its waist, and moved it to the conveyor belt behind. Soon after, the wheeled robot Alice M1 took over the box and headed to its destination. A process of robots collaborating without people continued.
AeiROBOT recently took this Humanoid Robot to HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' shipyard in Ulsan, considered one of the most advanced work sites in Korea's manufacturing sector. After being selected as the robot platform supplier for the shipbuilding and construction institutional sector in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources-led manufacturing AI transition project M.AX, the company joined hands with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries to take on the challenge of deploying robots to processes that people avoid or that are dangerous.
◇ Demonstration of fire suppression at shipyard… "Start with simple tasks and advance"
According to the shipbuilding industry on the 9th, shipyards have long been considered an industrial group slow to adopt robots. Unlike standardized manufacturing plants, most of the environment is unstructured, with narrow passages and steep stairs.
AeiROBOT saw this rough terrain as a chance to boost its technology. Chief Executive Eom Yoon-seol of AeiROBOT said, "If we can solve the challenges of locomotion and task execution in extreme environments like shipyards, we judged it would not be difficult to expand the technology to any industrial site in the future."
On the 5th, at an HD Hyundai Heavy Industries site, the Humanoid Robot Alice demonstrated fire suppression. Shipyards are required to station fire watchers, and the demonstration reflected on-site demand to have robots take this role to improve labor efficiency. The robot detected flames with a vision sensor, sprayed an extinguisher in that direction, and confirmed whether the fire was put out.
An HD Hyundai Heavy Industries official said, "There are still areas to improve, but this demonstration showed sufficient potential for use at a shipyard where labor shortages are severe," and added, "Rather than grand goals, it is important to build small success stories one by one and develop robots that are truly needed on the site."
AeiROBOT plans to start with simple assistance such as fire watching and material transport and ultimately evolve the robot into a "skilled worker" capable of welding in tight spaces that people avoid.
◇ Spread of "humanoid labor"… securing price competitiveness is key
There is a strong push to introduce "physical AI" on manufacturing sites around the world. Tesla's Optimus, regarded in the industry as the most advanced humanoid, has demonstrated performing simple, repetitive tasks in factory environments, such as sorting battery cells and moving parts.
Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, said on an earnings conference call in Oct. last year, "We will unveil the next-generation model in early 2026 and begin mass production for external sales within the year."
At BMW's plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the Figure 02 robot from U.S. robotics startup Figure AI became part of the body assembly process for about 11 months from Jan. to Nov. last year. The robot worked in shifts for 10 hours a day on the BMW X3 body assembly line and reportedly contributed to producing more than 30,000 vehicles in total.
BMW said it verified the robot's ability to accurately place complex sheet-metal parts within a 5 mm margin of error and noted it is preparing to introduce the next model based on the test results.
Hyundai Motor Group also unveiled a blueprint at CES 2026, the world's largest IT show held in Las Vegas, to begin full-scale deployment of Boston Dynamics' new electric robot Atlas at the Meta Plant in Georgia starting in 2028.
◇ China's "volume offensive"… "60,000 humanoids by 2030"
Chinese corporations are shaking the market with overwhelming price competitiveness. According to the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET), China's Humanoid Robot market reached 8.2 billion yuan (about 1.7 trillion won) last year and entered commercialization faster than anywhere else in the world. A forecast also came out that China's humanoid shipments will reach about 60,000 units in 2030.
Chinese robot corporation Unitree is selling the cheapest version of its Humanoid Robot G1 for $13,500 (about 19 million won). That is roughly one-tenth the price of competing products from the United States and Europe. China is deploying relatively inexpensive robots en masse to its domestic automobile and electronics assembly lines, pursuing a "human-wave tactic with robots."
Not to be outdone, Korean robot corporations are betting on a "price diet." AeiROBOT has set the supply price for its humanoid at 60 million to 70 million won, roughly equivalent to two years of wages for a foreign worker. The company cut costs by developing in-house actuators, the core components that account for 60% of a robot's production cost.
Cho Eun-gyo, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET), said, "China is narrowing the technology gap on the back of a huge domestic market and government support," and added, "Since Korea has manufacturing sites with world-class competitiveness in semiconductors, automobiles, and shipbuilding, it is important to actively use them as a 'test bed' for the robot industry to quickly secure validation data."