Doosan Robotics wins two government R&D contracts for AI-enabled cobots

Doosan Robotics announced that it has been awarded two substantial Korean government research and development contracts, receiving 68.1 billion won in subsidies from the Industry Ministry and the Korea Planning & Evaluation Institute Industrial Technology, with the company adding 30.8 billion won of its own capital. The first initiative, spanning four and a half years, will develop an on-device AI system-on-chip featuring a neural processing unit and real-time control, allowing robots to handle multimodal inputs such as vision, force, torque and voice without external cloud reliance.

Doosan plans to launch three cobot models with payload capacities of 5 kg, 10 kg and 20 kg, plus an omnidirectional dual-arm industrial humanoid, targeting market entry by 2031. The second, a 45-month project, integrates cobots, AI and digital-twin technology to automate high-precision welding for nuclear energy parts, seeking a 95 percent motion match rate and a 50 percent reduction in production time, with field trials at Doosan Enerbility’s nuclear facilities before expanding to shipbuilding and defense. CEO Park In-won emphasized that on-device AI chips will give Korean manufacturing a competitive edge amid labor shortages.