LG Electronics has built a humanoid home robot called CLOiD that can move around a house, interact with appliances and perform simple tasks. The company hopes to commercialise it before 2030. But the bigger opportunity LG sees may not be in selling robots at all.
Instead, the South Korean electronics giant wants to become a supplier of one of the most important components inside them: actuators, the motor-and-gear systems that enable robots to move.
Asked whether LG plans to sell its actuators to other robot manufacturers, Youngjae Kim, who heads the company’s robotics platform research, said the answer was an unequivocal yes. The company sees its decades of experience in motor technology as a competitive advantage that can be applied to the emerging robotics industry.
The strategy is familiar territory for LG. While consumers know the company for televisions, refrigerators and washing machines, much of its success has come from supplying critical components to other manufacturers.
Its display panels power televisions sold under rival brands. Its camera modules are used in smartphones, while its batteries and electric powertrain systems are supplied to automakers around the world. LG now wants to replicate that model in robotics.
At the centre of that ambition is AXIUM, the company’s actuator platform that combines a motor, gearbox and drive unit into a compact package. The technology builds on expertise LG has developed over decades through appliances, industrial automation and, more recently, electric vehicles.
The opportunity is significant because actuators are among the most expensive parts of a robot. Industry estimates suggest they account for 40-60% of a robot’s production cost. Only a limited number of companies are capable of manufacturing high-performance actuators at scale, creating an opening for suppliers with deep engineering and manufacturing capabilities.
LG believes it is well positioned to capture that market. The company has spent more than two decades working on robotics, from early home-cleaning machines to commercial service robots, warehouse automation systems and robotic arms deployed in its own factories. That experience has helped it build both the hardware expertise and operational know-how required to compete in the sector.
CLOiD remains an important part of the plan. Around the robot, LG is bringing together technologies from across its group, including artificial intelligence, sensors, batteries, software and industrial robotics. The machine serves as a demonstration of what the company can build when those capabilities are combined.
But the larger business case lies elsewhere. If the robotics industry develops along the lines of smartphones or electric vehicles, a handful of brands may dominate public attention while component suppliers capture a substantial share of the value.
(The Correspondent was in Seoul on the invitation of LG Electronics)