HYUNDAI and Boston Dynamics Target Humanoid Market with Plan to Produce 30,000 Units Annually

As the humanoid robot market is projected to grow to $200 billion (approximately 266 trillion won) by 2035, HYUNDAI and Boston Dynamics have embarked on full-scale steps toward the commercialization of robots. According to a video released on the HYUNDAI YouTube channel, the two companies are simultaneously developing technology and establishing production systems to preoccupy the robotics market, centered around the humanoid robot 'Atlas'.

'Atlas' Evolving with 'Two Brains'... Securing Physical AI Data is Key

Boston Dynamics has divided the process into two areas to implement the intelligent movements of Atlas. According to the video, they separately manage 'Physical Intelligence', where the robot performs actions such as grasping objects without losing balance, and 'Reasoning Intelligence', which follows complex instructions and makes judgments based on a common-sense understanding of the world.

The core of implementing such intelligence is 'Physical AI'. The presenter explained that Physical AI works similarly to Large Language Models (LLM). In other words, the principle is that the more data there is, the more the robot's task performance capabilities improve. However, since it is currently at a stage where sufficient data to support this does not exist, the challenge remains for Atlas to leave the laboratory and learn by generating data in real-world environments.

Deployment to Automobile Manufacturing Sites... Entering the Reliability and Safety Verification Stage

Currently, Atlas is undergoing intensive learning and verification processes at HYUNDAI's 'RMAC'. RMAC is a space where Atlas learns how to perform various automobile-related tasks and where the reliability of the robot is secured before it is deployed to actual sites.

The video clarified the reason why the automobile manufacturing industry was chosen as the first target for Atlas. This is because the automobile manufacturing process has very strict standards for security, safety, and reliability. They believe that if Atlas proves to be a reliable workforce by performing tasks here, expansion into broader industrial fields will be possible in the future. They also explained that the purpose of introducing robots is to liberate humans from tasks that are physically harmful, boring, or dangerous, thereby enhancing human potential.

Establishing Production Facilities for 30,000 Units Annually in the United States... Accelerating Commercialization

HYUNDAI presented a specific production plan to achieve economies of scale in the robotics business. HYUNDAI plans to build a new production facility in the United States capable of producing up to 30,000 robots annually and plans to deploy 25,000 units of Atlas in the future.

Boston Dynamics stated that through the partnership with HYUNDAI, they have reduced costs from the prototype stage to the first production stage by approximately 60–80%. The presenter emphasized that "Certainty about scale is a very important factor," highlighting that securing production efficiency through partnership is the key to commercialization. Meanwhile, Boston Dynamics is already leading the market by supplying the mobile autonomous robot 'Spot' to more than 500 customers in 46 countries worldwide, and aims to achieve a return on investment (ROI) of less than 2 years for all robot products.