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[Apha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] LG Electronics is developing the 'last mile' robot, which means the last step of the delivery process, with Dennis Hong, Professor of UCLA Department of Mechanical Engineering (Korean name Hong Won-seo) and Director of Lomela (RoMeLa· Robot Mechanism Research Institute). It explains that it is planning a next-generation robot that delivers all packages such as couriers, food, and medical products instead of people.
According to LG Electronics on March 28, Professor Dennis Hong, who was hired as an advisor to LG Electronics last year, is developing a delivery robot LIMMS beyond the advisory role. According to the industry, the robot is a robot with only legs without a body, and the object to be carried is a unique way of acting as the body of the robot.
Existing delivery robots have mainly been researched and developed for delivery using humanoid robots or drones. However, in the case of humanoid robots, the robots themselves are so large that the problems of cost-effectiveness have been raised, and in the case of drones, they can be delivered only to flyable areas, and the size and weight of the object are also limited.
The LIMMS is attached by combining four specially developed legs at the end of the box containing the shipment and carries the object in a four-legged manner. One leg of Rims weighs only 4kg. The four legs, which have free joints, can climb up and down stairs without difficulty, and after shipping the goods, they are dismantled from the goods and returned to the truck. Dennis Hong's research team explains that this could solve the high cost and inefficiency problems of existing humanoid robots.
Meanwhile, LG Electronics, which is sponsoring the research, has been actively pioneering robot technology for five years. In 2018, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo took office and announced that the 'robot business' will be the group's main business along with the electric vehicle battery and electronics business.
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