"직원 돕는 로봇, 올해 호텔 500곳에서 볼겁니다"..로보티즈 대표(인터뷰) [Original Article]

"Hotel service robot 'GAEMI' will be seen in 500 hotels both domestically and internationally."
Kim Byung-soo, CEO of ROBOTIS, presented this year's business goal in an interview held at the company's headquarters in Magok-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul on the 19th. The goal is to expand GAEMI, which was a pilot service in about 20 hotels until last year, by more than 25 times this year.

Established in March 1999, ROBOTIS was listed on KOSDAQ in October 2018. Actuators, the core components of robots, and the intelligent software (SW) that can effectively utilize them, account for 80-85% of total sales. Last year, it recorded sales of 25.8 billion won, the highest ever. CEO Kim predicted, "This year, you will see ROBOTIS grow one step further by transforming into an autonomous robot company."

When you take the elevator at ROBOTIS headquarters, the phrase “The study of human experiences” is written on the monitor. CEO Kim explained, “ROBOTIS' unique competitiveness comes not from its core technology or products, but from thinking of humans first.” He also said that ROBOTIS' entry into the autonomous robot market was also due to this management philosophy.

ROBOTIS’ autonomous research robot “Turtle” surpassed 30,000 units in cumulative sales in the third and fourth quarters of last year. This means that almost all domestic companies, universities, research institutes, and other places that study autonomous robots have purchased them. Considering that research and development is done before the technology is released on the market, it is expected that autonomous robots will soon become the trend in the robot market.

The reason ROBOTIS decided to target hotel service robots among autonomous robots is based on data. At hotels, one employee usually works the front desk at night, and another responds to guest room calls. This type of work is usually analyzed to require 1.1 to 1.2 people, but since it exceeds 1 person, 2 people are inevitably working.

Hotels that have tried out the one-person GAEMI service were able to reduce night workers by introducing robots. As a result, about 20 hotels introduced the one-person ant service last year, and most of them have converted to paid services.

CEO Kim explained, "It is not simply a result of having robot technology and using it to make products, but of studying life first."

CEO Kim expressed confidence, saying, “The economic outlook was not good last year and will not be good this year either, but the robot market grew last year and will be the same this year.”

ROBOTIS’ strategy is to gain a technological edge through bold investment in preparation for the time when domestic autonomous robot-related regulations are eased. Although it posted the highest sales last year, its net income for the period turned into a deficit due to increased investment in research and development (R&D).

CEO Kim said, “In order to significantly increase sales, investment must come first, and now is the time,” and said that he is focusing on R&D investment in artificial intelligence and autonomous driving technology.

ROBOTIS invested 2.9 billion won in R&D in 2018, the first year of its listing, and has been investing more than 16% of its sales in R&D every year. It executed 5.5 billion won in 2021 and more than 7 billion won last year. LG, which has recently been developing the robotics field as a future growth engine, is said to have invested in ROBOTIS because of its management philosophy of “human.” In addition, the technologies it possesses while developing its robotics business and its insight into the robotics market are also decisive reasons why LG chose it as a partner. CEO Kim said, “Last year, right after Prime Minister Han Duck-soo took office, he visited our headquarters and promised to ease regulations on robotics,” and “If regulatory issues are resolved, you will be able to feel it firsthand.”