Dive Brief:
- Boston Dynamics on Monday officially opened its robotics center at Hyundai’s electric vehicle production site outside of Savannah, Georgia, marking the next step on its journey to deploy humanoids and other robots across the automaker’s operations.
- The Massachusetts-based company began pilot operations at the Robotics Metaplant Application Center in June and recently transitioned to be fully operational. The center is located at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America and serves as a test bed and training center for integrating Atlas humanoids across Hyundai’s automotive factories.
- Boston Dynamics, which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hyundai in July, is training the robots to take over repetitive parts sequencing and heavy-lifting tasks over the next few years, as well as component assembly by 2030. The company said it plans to begin exploring use cases for Atlas in other industry sectors next year.
Dive Insight:
The Robotics Metaplant Application Center is a key part of Hyundai’s larger strategy unveiled in January to restructure its manufacturing environments for humans to work safely alongside robots as artificial intelligence technologies become more advanced, reliable and cost-effective.
Hyundai initially plans to deploy 25,000 Atlas units across its global plants, including Kia factories, over the next few years. The automaker also said it will establish a U.S. facility capable of producing 30,000 robots per year. A location was not disclosed.
“We have established a clear strategy to optimize our supply chain, production, testing, and deployment capabilities for Atlas,” Zack Jackowski, chief product and technology officer at Boston Dynamics, said in a statement. “RMAC reinforces our shared ambition to create a future where robots amplify human potential by making work safer and more productive.”
As Hyundai transitions more into robotics, Boston Dynamics’ expansion plans are already underway. The robotics maker said it will move into a new building at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, allowing for its test bed and training center to be 10 times its current size.
In addition to automotive deployments, Boston Dynamics is looking to explore more Atlas use cases with other industry sectors, including aerospace, semiconductors, logistics, food and beverage and life sciences. The company said it was in talks with existing Spot quadruped and Stretch mobile robot customers about ways to scale data collection and other tasks to progress Atlas’ training in 2027.
Hyundai is not the only automotive company getting into robotics. The Toyota Group aims to deploy close to 400,000 robots in an effort to update its aging factories and supplier network, a spokesperson confirmed Monday.
Starting in 2028, the company plans to deploy 150,000 units across Toyota Motor Corp. and the Toyota Group, as well as 250,000 units at various suppliers, Eric Booth, general manager of corporate communications at Toyota North America, wrote in an email. The total would include the replacement of existing robots and new units, such as humanoids.
Booth provided no details regarding the robotics suppliers or where the deployments would take place in the United States. Toyota’s factory automation efforts could cost up to $6.4 billion per year, Reuters reported.
