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Robot startups based in Gwanak District, Seoul, are leveraging the world's largest IT and technology exhibition, CES, to expand into global markets. The key players include Mandarin Robotics, which manufactures cooking robots, and Cution, a robot development platform company. Both companies plan to showcase their solutions to overseas buyers at this year's CES and actively seek opportunities in foreign markets.
Cution is developing the robot development platform 'Phynoid'. Phynoid is software that enables developers to easily develop and operate applications on various robot hardware, including humanoid robots. Its goal is to standardize control methods that vary by hardware, allowing robot manufacturers or developers to implement robot functions more easily.
Lee Min-seok, CEO of Cution, explained, "Just as one must download applications from an app store to fully utilize smartphone hardware, robots cannot function properly with hardware alone; software is essential."
Since the humanoid robot market is still in its early stages, Cution is also developing its own robots based on Phynoid. The barista robot showcased at this year's CES was developed based on the Phynoid platform.
Lee (CEO) stated, "Cution's barista robot stands out as a 'collaborative robot' rather than a fully unmanned system." He added, "Robots handle repetitive tasks such as espresso extraction, allowing humans to focus on beverage preparation, customer service, and store operations." He further noted, "Especially in cafes crowded with customers during peak hours like morning rush or lunchtime, there is high demand for this solution as it can reduce labor costs while increasing sales."
In addition to the barista robot, Cution is developing welding robots in collaboration with Hyundai Heavy Industries. Following NVIDIA's recent announcement of its physical AI full-stack solution, Cution aims to secure competitiveness as a 'middleware' company that connects hardware and software.
Cution also has deep ties with Gwanak District. The Cution research institute has been occupying Gwanak District's startup support facilities at almost no cost for two years. Following last year's participation, the company received support from the Gwanak District Office again this year to attend CES. Having been selected for the TIPS (Technology Innovation Program) Global Track last year, Cution plans to accelerate its entry into overseas markets through this year's CES.
Lee (CEO) said, "We are preparing to establish a local subsidiary in the United States to supply barista robots." He added, "Starting with the U.S., we will officially launch our global business focusing on advanced countries with high labor costs such as Australia, Japan, and Europe."
Cooking robot company Mandarin Robotics is developing a cooking robot called 'X-WOK' that replicates the chef's touch. Unlike robots that simply repeat basic motions, Mandarin Robotics' cooking robots utilize motion capture and data analysis based on recipes and cooking videos provided by restaurant owners. Through this process, if a robot learns the meticulously analyzed cooking procedure for about one to two weeks, it can precisely reproduce human movements. This ability to stably replicate the same taste has attracted significant interest from franchise companies.
Park Sang-hoon, Manager at Mandarin Robotics, stated, "X-WOK is being introduced not only in the Chinese food franchise 'Mimong' but also in various franchise companies and Seoul National University student cafeterias." He added, "While other companies' robots are limited to 4 or 5 patterns of wok movements, X-WOK can implement thousands of diverse motions."
Mandarin Robotics also participated in this year's CES with support from Gwanak District and is provided with office space. In this space, the company is developing a personalized healthcare solution called 'X-Wellbot'. X-Wellbot is a robot that automatically provides customized health beverages such as protein powder for users, with the goal of introducing it to gyms and yoga and Pilates centers in the future.
__[MoneyToday startup media platform Unicorn Factory]
in FUTURE
