At Hyundai Motor's exhibition hall during the Beijing Motor Show (Auto China 2026) on Nov. 24 local time, global reporters waiting for the world premiere of the Ioniq V model were surprised and cheered at an unexpected sight. Li Peng-gang, president of Beijing Hyundai, took the stage riding Hyundai Motor Group's (005380.KS) next-generation autonomous mobile robot (AMR) "MobED." It was the moment when MobED, whose concept was first unveiled in 2022, showed its driving capabilities before a global audience. Li introduced MobED to reporters as "Hyundai Motor Group's intelligent mobility platform."
AMRs are a next-generation mobility solution drawing attention worldwide. As the name combining "autonomous" and "mobile" suggests, AMRs are characterized by being designed to move on their own. Robots that recognize their surroundings through equipment such as cameras and lidar and find the optimal path to a destination using navigation systems are called AMRs.
Breaking Free From Fixed-Route Constraints
Mobile robots that move without direct human control existed before AMRs. Even now, numerous companies deploy automated guided vehicles (AGVs) inside smart factories. Like AMRs, AGVs can be considered to perform autonomous driving in the sense that they do not require human operation. However, AGVs have clear limitations. They only drive along fixed routes. One representative driving method for AGVs is attaching magnetic tape to the factory floor and moving along it. AGVs are evaluated as having replaced the role of conveyor belts by automating the transport of materials or parts along predetermined paths in indoor environments.
AMRs are a technology one step ahead of AGVs, overcoming the constraint of fixed routes. When a user inputs a destination, an AMR generates the optimal path to the destination on its own. If an unexpected obstacle appears on the route during autonomous driving, it searches for an alternative path. Such AMR intelligence helps create environments in which workers, equipment, and robots can naturally coexist and collaborate in indoor workplaces such as factories and logistics centers. Once a robot's movement path is set, rather than having people avoid the robot, the robot efficiently plans its route by avoiding people and equipment.
In addition, AMRs have the strength of being usable in outdoor environments, as they can respond to unpredictable variables that are difficult to anticipate in outdoor settings. Thanks to these characteristics, AMRs can also perform outdoor tasks such as goods transport and patrol duties. Currently, AMRs have first begun commercialization in goods delivery and safety management. Commercialization in logistics, manufacturing, and construction is expected to follow. The AMR industry expects AMRs to spread rapidly, centered on industries with many repetitive movement tasks that must simultaneously improve operational efficiency and service quality in terms of mobility.
Hyundai Motor Group and Neubility Lead Korea's AMR Industry
At this point, the most notable AMR product from a Korean company is MobED. Hyundai Motor Group's AMR product MobED is a four-wheeled robot with a body 75 cm wide, 115 cm long, and 43 cm high. MobED comes in two models, Basic and Pro, with the Pro model equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and fused camera-lidar sensors. The maximum payload is 47 kg, and it can drive autonomously for about four hours on a single charge. It is also designed so that its four wheels can move independently, enabling stable driving in outdoor environments. Hyundai Motor Group began domestic sales of MobED in March this year and plans to mass-produce the product in the second half.
Ko Hun-gun, head of Hyundai Motor Group's Mobile Robot Solution Development Office, who led MobED's development, explained, "MobED can steer and move each wheel up and down independently. Its biggest feature is that it maintains the body nearly horizontal even on uneven surfaces, slopes, and curbs."
There is also an AMR that has caught the eye of the general public while running across the country. The star is "Neubie," developed by the startup Neubility. Neubie, mass-produced since 2022, is a four-wheeled robot with a body 67 cm wide, 62 cm long, and 67 cm high. Its maximum payload is 20 kg, and it can operate for about eight hours on a single charge. Since being deployed for food delivery service in the Songdo area of Incheon in September 2024, Neubie is currently used for delivery and patrol in Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, and Gangneung in Gangwon Province.
"If you add up Neubie's cumulative driving distance, it exceeds two laps around the Earth," said Kang Ki-hyuk, CEO of Neubility. "Neubie is a field-ready AMR that can operate in various environments such as urban commercial districts, apartment complexes, and golf courses."
Stable Autonomous Driving Is the Key Challenge
AMR experts agreed that the factor determining AMR product quality is autonomous driving technology. This is because the essence of AMR technology is intelligent mobility that reduces human labor intervention and promotes harmonious collaboration in the workplace. AMR's autonomous driving technology consists of three stages: recognizing the surrounding environment, estimating self-position, and determining the path. Implementing each step safely and accurately is an important task for the AMR industry.
"MobED is equipped with multiple sensors including cameras and lidar, and also utilizes AI models to respond to irregular obstacles and flexibly modify driving paths," Ko said. Kang said, "Neubie combines general geographic information system (GIS) maps with camera sensor-based on-site perception capabilities, giving it the technology to move without building complex precision maps. Thanks to this, it can be quickly deployed in new areas."
In addition to autonomous driving technology, representative factors determining AMR product competitiveness are ease of adoption, product scalability, and operating software. The ease of AMR adoption is influenced by total cost, including not only product price but also setup difficulty and long-term operational stability.
Product scalability is a factor from the corporate customer's perspective when choosing an AMR. "Corporate customers place greater value on platform-type robots that can be used for multiple tasks rather than dedicated robots that perform only one task," Ko said. "MobED can be used for various tasks by replacing its upper module."
Operating software refers to a platform that allows corporate customers to easily control robots according to their needs. "Neubility provides a system called the Neubility Control Center (NCC) to monitor and remotely control AMRs," Kang explained. "This provides an operating system to manage all the robots a customer owns."
AMRs are expected to develop progressively through early product stages and market competition. Technology developers in the industry are focusing on equipping products with more sophisticated technology. Business planners are strengthening product appeal by diversifying product lineups. Ko, who is preparing for MobED mass production, stressed, "The goal is to secure autonomous driving quality at a level that enables repeated operation even in complex environments where changes in light brightness and road surface conditions coexist." Kang said, "This year, we plan to add the quadruped walking robot 'Newtrek' and the heavy-load robot 'Newton' to our product lineup. Expanding our product range to cover complex service environments is the core of our business."
