Hyundai Motor Group's robotics affiliate Boston Dynamics on the 18th (local time) unveiled plans to produce and deploy the Humanoid Robot Atlas in the United States. It aims to establish an annual production system of more than 30,000 units by 2028 and to first introduce more than 25,000 units at Hyundai Motor and Kia plants.
Hyundai Motor Group on the 18th (local time) held an investor relations (IR) event on its Robotics strategy at The Westin Boston Seaport District in the United States. Six companies took part: Hyundai Motor, Kia, Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Glovis, Hyundai AutoEver, and Boston Dynamics. Vice Chairman Chang Jae-hoon of Hyundai Motor Group and interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amanda McMaster of Boston Dynamics attended.
The core of the roadmap and value chain Hyundai Motor Group unveiled is vertical integration of a robotics production system centered on "Atlas." According to Hyundai Motor Group, mass production of 30,000 Atlas main bodies a year will be handled by Hyundai Motor and Kia. The strategy is to first use them in-house before external sales. However, the specific introduction timing and the plants where they will be deployed were not disclosed.
The group will build an actuator (joint drive device) production plant in the United States and produce more than 350,000 actuators annually at this plant. Hyundai Mobis will operate the plant. Actuators are components that use energy sources such as electric motors, hydraulics, and pneumatics to bend or rotate a robot's joints. As a key component installed on each robot joint, they account for about 60% of the Humanoid manufacturing cost.
Hyundai Glovis will handle various logistics, such as supplying parts for Atlas production and delivering Atlas units. Hyundai AutoEver will be responsible for building the software infrastructure, from robot data collection and management to Smart Factory optimization.
In addition, Hyundai Motor Group did not disclose the timing of Boston Dynamics' initial public offering (IPO).