In June 2021, Hyundai completed the purchase of ‘Boston Dynamics’. Now, a year later, the motor company has announced the launch of the ‘Boston Dynamics AI Institute’. An investment of USD 400 million has been made towards this endeavour. This institute would be led by Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert, who will drive the team to focus on advances in artificial intelligence, intelligent machines, and robotics.

Boston Dynamics AI Institute

“Our mission is to create future generations of advanced robots and intelligent machines that are smarter, more agile, perceptive and safer than anything that exists today,” said Raibert, who is also the executive director of the Boston Dynamics AI Institute. He further added that ‘elite’ talent would be hired to come up with fundamental solutions for creating robots that are easier to use and more productive in performing a variety of tasks—all the while also ensuring the safety of the people involved. The institute would be hiring AI and robotics researchers, hardware and software engineers, and technicians at different levels.

The Boston Dynamics AI Institute aims at combining the best features of university research labs and corporate development labs while focusing on cognitive AI, athletic AI, organic hardware design and ethics and policy. The institute would be headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the heart of the Kendall Square research community. 

Along with the AI R&D institute, Hyundai also announced a ‘Global Software Center’ for the development of its software capabilities and technologies and further advance the development of Software Defined Vehicles (SDV). The centre would be established on the basis of ‘42dot’, autonomous driving software and mobility startup recently acquired by Hyundai.

Boston Dynamics was sold to Hyundai by Softbank for a valuation of USD 1.1 billion; with this deal, Hyundai acquired an 80% stake in the company—widely considered to be a bad deal for a pioneer in the robotics field. The company has produced several intelligent service and logistics robotics solutions. One of the more popular ones is the ‘Spot’ robot. A four-legged robot, Spot, that looks like a dog and weighs 25 kg. It can perform functions like climbing stairs and navigating rough terrains. Unlike other wheeled robots, Spot is able to fit into narrow spaces while also carrying a payload of up to 14 kg.

Also Read: All You Need To Know About Boston Dynamics’ Spot

Recently, Hyundai and Kia subsidiaries joined hands with six South Korean institutes to develop mobility solutions for the lunar surface. The artistic renditions shared by Hyundai point towards the use of quadrupled robots similar to Spot. Notably, Spot robots have already been deployed for factory patrol.

Hyundai’s other efforts in robotics

Hyundai has high ambitions when it comes to AI and robotics. In 2017, the Hyundai Motor Group announced the launch of Hyundai ‘CRADLE’—Center for Robotic-augmented Design in Living Experiences. 

The purpose of this new initiative was to strengthen the company’s automotive business and expand to adjacent markets along with taking the Hyundai CRADLE innovation concept globally. CRADLE also works as an open innovation business that partners with and invests in prominent global startups working in the future automotive technologies.

The Strategy and Technology Division of CRADLE, in particular, oversees the company’s research in five technologies, namely—mobility services, smart cities, artificial intelligence, eco-friendly energy, and robotics. 

“As part of this endeavour, Hyundai has made many strategic investments.”

One such example is ‘SoundHound’, a leading innovator in voice-enabled AI and conversational intelligence technologies. This investment has helped Hyundai Veloster host Intelligent Personal Agent that allows drivers to identify songs on the radio—Hyundai’s own Shazam! The two companies are also working on speech recognition and natural language processing projects.

One of the most remarkable innovations from Hyundai CRADLE is the ‘Elevate Concept’—an electric car with robotic legs. Its design allows it to mimic reptilian walking gait, helping the vehicle in climbing a 1.5-meter wall, walk over diverse terrain, step over a gap, and achieve a track width. For Elevate, Hyundai CRADLE worked with Sundberg-Ferar through an Open-innovation strategy.

In 2019, Hyundai announced that the motor company would be investing KRW 45.3 trillion in R&D over the next five years. Of this investment, the company announced that Hyundai would be spending KRW 2.5 trillion for the development of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics.