KIMM joins forces with leading European research institutes to open new chapter in AI robotics and industrial machine autonomy cooperation

- KIMM, DFKI, and DTU sign MoU on next-generation AI technology

- Expanded collaboration to include AI robotics, acoustics, and industrial machine autonomy chain.

□ The Korea Institute of Machinery & Material (KIMM, President Seog-Hyeon Ryu), under the Ministry of Science and ICT, will join hands with German and Danish research institutes, two of Europe's future high-tech leaders, to conduct joint research in the fields of AI robotics, acoustics, and industrial machine autonomy. The agreement is expected to strengthen the international cooperation network in Europe and provide a bridgehead for domestic intelligent robots to enter the global market.

□ On October 9 (Wednesday), KIMM signed a cooperation agreement with the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI)* (German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, Director Prof. Dr. Antonio Krüger), located on the campus of Universität Saarlandes, in Saarbrucken, Germany, to develop multi-task intelligence technology (RoGeTa) for robots. This agreement is expected to accelerate the development of advanced robot intelligence through the planning of technical cooperation projects in the fields of AI robotics technology of KIMM and AI, Digital Twin, and multimodal HMI (Human Machine Interaction) of DFKI. 

* DFKI (Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz GmbH), founded in 1988, is the world's largest non-profit artificial intelligence (AI) research institute, which aims to research and commercialize AI through industry-academia-government cooperation. Its main research areas include natural language processing, robotics, machine learning, computer vision, and big data analytics, and it is also working on various projects for real-world industrial applications of AI technologies. It also contributes to the commercialization of advanced technologies by collaborating with startups and large companies, and is a leading European and global AI research network.

□ DFKI Saarbrücken, Germany's hub for AI research, is researching AI technologies in various fields such as cognitive assistance, multilingual and language processing, and neural machine modeling, with a particular focus on AI technologies related to multimodal interaction between robots and humans. For the past four years, from 2018 to 2022, KIMM and DFKI have been collaborating on R&D related to collaborative logistics robots, including autonomous robotics and digital twins, and from this year, KIMM's new basic project, “Robot General Purpose Task Artificial Intelligence Development Project” is promoting joint research cooperation.  

□ On October 7 (Monday), the KIMM delegation led by Vice President Bong-Ki Kim visited the Robot Innovation Center of DFKI Bremen to discuss cooperation between the two institutions in the fields of robotics,

 artificial intelligence, and digital twin technology.

□ On October 4 (Friday), KIMM also signed a bilateral MoU with the Technical University of Denmark (DTU, President Anders Overgaard Bjarklev) to collaborate on acoustics and industrial machine autonomy technology. The agreement will lead to specific cooperation tasks, including exploring ways to utilize DTU's sound field analysis technology for spatial sound field reconstruction and identifying an agenda for cooperation in industrial machine autonomy.

□ DTU is a leading Danish engineering university with a reputation for in-depth research and innovative education since its establishment in 1829. It is a world-class research university with extensive expertise in the fields of spatial acoustics and industrial machine autonomy, with more than 50 years of accumulated know-how and in-depth research. The Department of Mechanical Engineering is actively engaged in research exchanges related to sound field reconstruction technology for spatial sound field acquisition.

□ “This agreement marks an important milestone in brightening the future of Korea's AI robotics industry and advanced machine technology by collaborating with world-class research institutions in Europe in the field of digital AI, which will lead a new manufacturing revolution,” said President Seog-Hyeon Ryu. ”We will do our best to establish the identity of K-Machine, the vision of KIMM, in the competition for global technology hegemony.”