Samsung reorganizes for humanoid robots

Samsung Electronics is preparing to consolidate robotics teams scattered across its Device eXperience Division into a dedicated organization as it accelerates work on AI powered humanoid robots, according to Korea JoongAng Daily.

The planned group would bring together the Future Robotics Office, Samsung Research’s robotics unit and Global Technology Research. The report says Samsung is also considering elevating the organization into a full business division once it has an independent production line and secures profitability.

HX would give Samsung’s humanoid work a clearer home

One name under consideration is "HX," short for "Humanoid Experience." Samsung is also expected to appoint a new head to replace Oh Joon-ho, who currently leads the Future Robotics Office.

Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong has framed robotics demand as extending beyond factories into homes, restaurants, hospitals and long term care facilities. For now, the more concrete part of Samsung’s plan is internal: robots for manufacturing, trained and tested against the company’s own production needs.

Samsung’s internal posture also appears more concrete than a branding exercise. The company recently launched a large scale internal job posting for DX Division employees that included three robotics related positions, and the report says it has hired several senior level executives from major global technology companies. Samsung’s management diagnosis team also conducted a broad review of the robotics organizations before the planned integration and personnel reshuffle.

Factory manipulation is the near term test

Samsung executives have tied the robot program first to manufacturing automation. Roh Tae-moon, head of the DX Division, said in January that Samsung was prioritizing robotics to automate manufacturing facilities, with later expansion from business customers to consumers.

Industry observers expect Samsung developed robots could be deployed on the company’s own production lines as early as the second half of this year. That claim is still from observers, not a confirmed rollout plan from Samsung.

The most specific technical detail in the report is Samsung Research’s progress on deformable object manipulation. The article says Samsung recently developed robot technology capable of assembling and inserting shape changing objects such as electrical cables. Unlike moving rigid parts, cable insertion is a difficult manufacturing task because the object changes shape during handling.

Samsung has focused on robotic hand technologies and is reportedly refining them through continued training toward factory deployment. If the cable work proves reliable on real lines, it would address one of the less glamorous but commercially meaningful problems in humanoid factory use: handling flexible parts rather than simply moving rigid objects.

In house components and training data

Samsung also told investors during its first quarter earnings call that it is building capabilities to develop customized key robot components in house. The company described a two track strategy of internal development and partnerships, with investments and mergers and acquisitions to be considered when needed.

KB Securities analyst Kim Dong-won pointed to Samsung’s semiconductor fabs as a potential advantage. He said behavioral data from real manufacturing environments worth an estimated 50 trillion won to 100 trillion won (about $33.7 billion to $67.5 billion) could be used for robot training, helping Samsung deploy humanoid robots in industrial settings more quickly.

For the humanoid sector, Samsung’s restructuring is more meaningful than another prototype tease. The next concrete test is whether the company can show a humanoid doing sustained production work inside its own facilities, rather than only accumulating internal research and organizational capacity.

Source: koreajoongangdaily.com