Hyundai Wia begins supplying Korea’s first fully unmanned forklift… Applied to Kia Autoland Hwaseong in May next year

Hyundai Wia announced on the 7th that it will begin supplying unmanned forklifts that can move on their own and load and unload goods from trucks.

Hyundai Wia is the first company in Korea to succeed in supplying an unmanned forklift capable of loading and unloading completely unmanned. This unmanned forklift is scheduled to be applied and operated for the first time at Kia Autoland Hwaseong from May next year.

Based on its experience in mass producing autonomous logistics robots (AMR), Hyundai WIA has enabled unmanned forklifts to move around the workplace and transport goods on their own using lidar sensors, vision sensors, and safety scanners.

In particular, technology was focused on loading and unloading. A vision sensor was used to accurately recognize the location of the pallet, and the phenomenon of the vehicle sinking slightly when loading items onto the truck and the movement of the pallet depending on ground conditions were also taken into account.

In addition, data was optimized in real time to enable 100% recognition even when the pallet moves up to 250 mm away from the target position or is tilted more than 10 degrees to the left or right.

The maximum load is 4 tons, similar to a medium-sized forklift commonly used in manufacturing sites.

The maximum speed is approximately 6.5 km/h, which is set to a safe speed within the factory. In addition, safety scanners that detect obstacles were attached to all four sides of the unmanned forklift, allowing it to stop immediately if it encounters a dangerous situation.

Hyundai Wia's goal is to expand its sales into the global market by building a total 'mobile robot' solution, including unmanned forklifts, AMRs, and parking robots that have been successfully commercialized.

A Hyundai Wia official said, "By supplying unmanned forklifts, we have been able to build a more diverse lineup of industrial robots used at manufacturing sites. We will work harder to become a company that innovates global manufacturing sites through H-Motion robots, an industrial mobile robot."