AI+ Self-driving Robots To Serve at a Hotel

Robots with AI and indoor autonomous driving technology will serve at a hotel.

Starting in August, about 10 AI serving robots named ‘Servinggo’ will be operated at the Interburgo Hotel Daegu. They will move around the hotel restaurant and lobby to deliver food and goods ordered by customers, greet guests at the front gate, and serve welcome drinks in the lobby.

SK Telecom held a business partnership ceremony with Woori Robot, COGAPLEX, Youngwoo DSP, and Bareumi Interburgo Hotel Daegu on June 25th to commercialize AI serving robot based on AI and indoor self-driving technology.

These serving robots are equipped with the core technology of the five participating companies.

SKT has installed ‘Metatron Grandview’ technology for indoor remote control for commercializing AI robots, and the serving robots can be operated efficiently indoor by checking the status in real-time through the technology.

SKT enables the monitoring of the status of serving robots and proactive after-sales service based on big data accumulated through Metatron and supports customized services through the analysis of usage conditions.

Woori Robot was in charge of business planning and manufacturing of the serving robot, and COGAPLEX developed AI indoor autonomous driving technology. Youngwoo DSP developed and mass-produced the electric field of the serving robots, and Bareumi Interburgo Hotel Group supported the optimization experiment for commercializing the robots in its own hotel- Interburgo Hotel and Bareumi Restaurant.

The 10 units of AI Serving Robot, which will start service at Interburgo Hotel in Daegu under the name " Servinggo," will deliver food and other materials ordered by customers at hotel restaurants and lobbies from August. It will also serve as a mascot for the hotel, such as welcoming customers at the hotel's main entrance and serving welcome drinks in the lobby.

Serving robot "Servinggo" is expected to greatly contribute to lowering customers’ anxiety about face-to-face services.

SKT has been considering a partnership with start-up Woori Robot since 2020 to commercialize AI serving robots, and plans to apply 5G network in the future and upgrade face/body and voice recognition technology through Vision AI gradually.

Nak-hoon Choi, head of SKT's Smart Factory CO, said, "We hope that AI serving robots will help hotel users get food safely. In the future, we hope that technology will contribute to creating environmental, social and corporate structure (ESG) values across society."

Seung-do Park, the head of Woori Robot, said, "If SK Telecom's network and ICT technology are combined with AI serving robots, we will be able to enhance the convenience of visitors.” He also said “Face recognition technology on a serving robot can help you remember your regular customers. For example, if the robot observes that the customer does not eat a certain kind of food during the visit, it can offer the customer other food on the next visit. We will do our best to provide great services with good prices and good quality for small business owners who need non-face-to-face unmanned service due to rising labor costs as well as COVID-19."

Reported by 'Smart City Today'