‘Robot World 2018’ to Offer Direction for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

“Robot World 2018,” which will showcase domestic and overseas advanced robot technologies, will be held at Kintex, Ilsan, a northern suburb of Seoul, from October 10 to 13.

The Korea Association of Robot Industry (KAR), which manages the large-scale annual exhibition, announced on July 10 that the application for the exhibition closes on August 31.

Robot World 2018, which is the 13th edition this year, is hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and jointly run by the KAR, Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement (KIRIA), and Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems (ICROS). It consists of four major parts: an international robot exhibition; an international robot contest; an international robot conference; and a promotional hall, which displays the results of the market-creating robot distribution projects.

The international robot industry exhibition will be held in Hall 2 of Exhibition Center 1. Some 200 companies from 20 countries will set up 500 booths, displaying manufacturing robots, service robots, robot parts, smart manufacturing solutions, smart applications, software and drones.

Especially, this exhibition will set up a special hall for each industry to show how robots are applied to everyday life and various industries. A special hall will also be dedicated to collaborative robots which are spreading gradually. Visitors will be able to learn about regulations regarding collaborative robots and various safety solutions in industrial fields.

In this year's Robot Factory 4.0 Area (Manufacturing Robot Hall), a large number of companies will participate, including domestic robot manufacturers such as Hyundai Heavy Industries, Doosan Robotics, and Robostar, and Korean robot parts producers such as Hannz Motrol, Mint Robot, and SBB Tech. Also, major overseas companies such as Universal Robot, Rethink Robotics, TM Robot, and AUBO will participate.

In Robot Platform Area (Service Robot Hall), Korea’s major service robot producers including Hyundai Rotem, Yujin Robot, Robotiz, Roborobo, and Rainbow Robotics have decided to participate. Especially, more than 40 overseas companies from 19 countries are joining the event, including Ubitec, China’s representative service robot company which is participating for the first time.

The International Robot Contest to be held in Hall 1 of Exhibition Center 1 is a global robot competition which is held not only for elementary, middle, and high school students but also for the general public. Under the theme of “the coexistence of human beings and robots,” robots will be created in accordance with the regulations of the contest, and tested for their function and mission performance.

The 2018 International Robot Contest will have 11 competitions and 29 events. While KIRIA will be responsible for the overall management of the contest, a host of other institutes will participate as co-organizers, enhancing the event’s expertise. They include KAIST, the Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Korea Robot Sports Association, STEAM Education Association, ITC Robot Culture Association, Korea Robot Education Content Association, Korea Science and Technology Camp Association, ETRI, and Seoul National University of Education.

In the meantime, as the R&D competitiveness of the domestic robot industry is increasing, and the number of domestic companies branching out to the overseas market is rising, Robot World 2018 will operate the international robot conference to offer the latest robot industry trend and provide a forum for discussion on technical issues for people in the industry, academia, and research.

Especially, this year's international robot conference, which is titled “International Robot Technology Forum: Biomimetic Robot Technology and Application,” will focus on biomimetic robots that are expected to be applicable to various fields such as defense, disaster and construction.

Kim Hyeong-keun, vice chairman of the Korea Robotics Industry Association, said, "Robot World 2018 is a robot exhibition that represents not only Korea but Asia. We will make this event a leading global exhibition focused on the Fourth Industrial Revolution by integrating platforms such as smart factory and artificial intelligence.”

Robot World held last year