The Ministry of Science and ICT (led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon) visited the HD Hyundai Samho shipyard in Yeongam-gun, Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, on September 10 to review a demonstration site for physical AI powered by intelligent base stations (AI-RAN). The demonstration represents an effort to ease the shipbuilding industry’s chronic labor shortage and the risk of industrial accidents through advanced network technology and AI robots, and attention is focused on whether it will translate into improved safety and productivity for workers on the manufacturing floor.
 [코리안투데이] A visit to the AI Robot Demonstration Center at the HD Hyundai Samho shipyard © 장형임 기자 |
On the morning of the 10th, the Ministry of Science and ICT visited the HD Hyundai Samho shipyard to examine a physical AI demonstration site based on intelligent base stations (AI-RAN), part of the newly launched ‘High-Performance AI Network Infrastructure Project’, and exchanged views with the National Information Society Agency (NIA), the project’s managing body, and company officials.
The visit was arranged to carry forward the expansion of intelligent base stations and the ‘Physical AI First-Tier’ strategy contained in national policy task No. 20, ‘Building an AI Expressway to Become One of the World’s Top Three AI Powers’. Its purpose is to apply AI-based next-generation network technology at actual industrial sites and, on that basis, to verify the potential for spreading physical AI services.
The High-Performance AI Network Infrastructure Project, launched this year, is backed by 8.3 billion won in state funding, with domestic mobile carriers, telecommunications equipment makers, and on-site manufacturers participating as consortiums. Two consortiums, one led by KT and the other by SKT, have been selected, with the goal of quickly securing tangible results by directly applying high-performance AI networks, including intelligent base stations, to various industrial sites.
Until now, AI robots relying on the ‘on-device’ method, in which the device processes commands on its own, have faced constraints in computing resources and battery life, while the ‘cloud’ method, which uses remote servers, has been limited in real-time responsiveness due to network latency. Critics have pointed out that in sites with complex working environments, such as shipyards, it is difficult to deploy robots immediately using these methods.
The intelligent base station (AI-RAN), drawing attention as an alternative, is a technology that combines AI and computing functions with the radio access network to operate the network intelligently while also using the network’s computing resources for AI services. This makes it possible to enhance communication quality and efficiency while simultaneously supporting the ultra-low-latency communication and AI computation that AI robots require.
The KT consortium, the focus of this visit, is building a high-performance AI network at the welding and painting plants inside the HD Hyundai Samho shipyard to demonstrate physical AI services. The ‘AI welding robot’ improves on the existing semi-automated method, in which workers manually moved the robot and handled unexpected situations, by establishing a system in which a quadrupedal welding robot based on intelligent base stations recognizes its work environment on its own and welds with precision. The ‘AI painting robot’ transforms the painting process that workers previously carried out by hand: the robot transmits and analyzes high-resolution images of the hull surface in real time, accurately determines the areas to be painted, and performs high-quality painting through autonomous driving.
The SKT consortium is building a high-performance AI network in response to on-site demand from SK Incheon Petrochem and KG Mobility. It plans to implement a quadrupedal patrol robot that patrols hazardous areas within the plant and detects dangerous situations through AI analysis, as well as a service in which vehicles are transported autonomously without human intervention.
The Ministry of Science and ICT believes the demonstration will contribute to improving the operational stability and productivity of key national manufacturing industries such as shipbuilding, petrochemicals, and automobiles, which suffer from chronic labor shortages and high risks of industrial accidents. It expressed hope that, following an analysis of the outcomes, the initiative will spread to other industries.
Lim Jung-gyu, Director-General for Information Security and Network Policy, said, ‘As physical AI spreads, the role of networks that connect it stably and in real time is becoming ever more important’, adding, ‘We will continuously advance next-generation network technologies such as intelligent base stations to support the spread of physical AI at industrial sites and to build success stories for AI networks.’
지역 홍보대사 신청 기자양성과정 신청 코리안투데이 지부장 신청 코리안투데이 인천강화코리안브랜드대상 신청 최고경영인대상 신청 소비자만족도대상 신청
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