[Daegu = E-Daily Reporter Shin Yeong-bin ] “By mounting various payloads on MobED, we can create a wide range of applications. If we attach a robotic arm, it can load and unload objects, and if we mount a camera, it can be used as a platform for filming and broadcasting.”

Hyun Dong-jin HyundaiMotor(005380), an advisor (former head of the Robotics Lab), cited scalability as a key strength of HyundaiMotor’s autonomous mobility platform, “MobED.” He explained that by combining equipment tailored to customer needs onto the basic mobility platform, it can be utilized for logistics, filming, advertising, and task assistance.

In a keynote speech at the “2026 41st Annual Conference of the Korean Society of Control, Robotics, and Systems (ICROS 2026)” held at EXCO in Daegu on the 1st, Advisor Hyun introduced the background behind MobED’s development and the platform’s strategy.

Mobed is a mobile robot platform that HyundaiMotor first unveiled at CES 2022. It features four independent wheels that allow it to adjust its posture and navigate based on ground conditions. Advisor Hyun described Mobed as a “seed platform technology” designed with outdoor autonomous driving and various service expansions in mind—that is, a platform serving as the foundation for multiple robot services.

Hyun cited the limitations of existing autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and quadruped robots as the rationale behind Mobed’s development. “Existing AMRs have small wheels, making it difficult for them to leave warehouses and navigate autonomously, while quadruped robots had limitations in terms of payload capacity and battery life,” he explained. “We needed a new form of mobility capable of handling outdoor autonomous navigation.”

He added, “Various payloads can be mounted on Mobed to enable a wide range of functions,” noting, “It can handle payloads of 150 kg or more, making it possible for Saramins to ride on it.”

HyundaiMotor views Mobed as a platform because its applications vary by customer. Each market—including logistics, filming, advertising, patrols, and delivery—requires different upper structures and operational scenarios. The company determined that it is more practical to provide a basic mobility platform and autonomous driving capabilities, allowing customers to expand the system to suit their specific purposes, rather than having the manufacturer develop every service directly.

To this end, HyundaiMotor designed Mobed’s software architecture using a platform-based approach. Advisor Hyun explained, “It was a project that involved refactoring the software, creating application programming interfaces (APIs), and even supplying a software development kit (SDK) so that various partner companies could meet their respective objectives.”

In fact, HyundaiMotor is collaborating with external partners through the “Mobed Alliance.” Advisor Hyun said, “Since this is a platform-oriented robot, we formed the Mobed Alliance with business development players across various markets,” adding, “Partner companies integrate Mobed according to their own business objectives and use APIs or SDKs to control it or perform task planning.”

However, the journey toward developing an outdoor autonomous driving platform was not easy. Advisor Hyun said, “When we actually tested outdoor autonomous driving, we realized it was much more difficult than operating on sidewalks.” He explained that false positives and missed detections frequently occurred outdoors due to factors such as backlighting, drainage grates, and environments resembling cliffs.

He explained, “We struggled because the system often mistook drainage grates for cliffs while detecting hazardous terrain like cliffs,” adding, “The most challenging aspect was functional safety. In particular, outdoor functional safety presented far too many unforeseen scenarios.”

The commercialization strategy also prioritized quality over speed. Advisor Hyun explained, “Mobed is a platform that has completed mass production preparations and is on the verge of commercialization,” but added, “However, we don’t expect to produce large volumes this year. In the early stages, our priority is to produce small batches to ensure quality.”

During the technology development process for robot commercialization, reliance on a specific platform was also identified as a challenge. Explaining reinforcement learning-based robot control, Advisor Hyun remarked, “While learning through Isaac Lab, I began to wonder if we were ultimately becoming locked into NVIDIA GPUs,” adding, “I was concerned that it might become increasingly difficult to commercialize independently.”

Hyun believed that the robotics business would be difficult to sustain by simply selling products. “I didn’t view robotics as merely a business of selling products,” he said. “The technology must also take services into account.” He particularly emphasized the need for a platform strategy, noting that it is difficult for a manufacturer to directly handle all on-site operations and services.

Mobed’s strategy illustrates the direction HyundaiMotor Robotics Lab envisions for the robotics business. The vision goes beyond simply selling robots as standalone finished products; it aims to create an ecosystem where various service providers can participate, based on a shared, modular mobility platform.

Hyun, an advisor, emphasized, “Standardization and modularization are fundamental elements for improving price accessibility,” adding, “Sustainability can only be achieved when business development proceeds in tandem with supply chain development.”