Samsung’s wearable robot GEMS showcased at CES 2019
Samsung Electronics Co. will unveil its first wearable robot, Bot Fit, later this month as the South Korean tech giant delves into the global healthcare robot sector, which is expected to grow to $84.1 billion by 2032.
In 2019, Samsung showcased a wearable robot, the gait enhancing and motivation system (GEMS), at the CES trade show. The exoskeleton-type robot, codenamed EX1, is meant for wearing from hips to knees to assist people with walking, exercising and improving their walking pattern.
The company later renamed it Bot Fit. According to people familiar with the matter, Samsung now aims to bring the wearable assistive robot to market by the end of this year.
According to sources, Samsung recently launched the Samsung Bot Fit app, undisclosed to the public.
A visitor tries out the GEMS Hip at CES 2020
An analysis of the app showed that Bot Fit is designed to support walking exercises for fitness enthusiasts, maximizing the effects of walking through artificial intelligence and robotic technology.
The market earlier expected Bot Fit to largely assist elderly users with walking problems.
Separately, Samsung has started hiring staff for Bot Fit experience zones, with an official release of the assistive robot expected later this month, sources said.
The wearable robot will likely be priced at around 3 million won ($2,213), they said.
The price is more affordable than the 3.19 million won for a walking assistance robot made and sold by WIRobotics Co., a startup founded by former Samsung engineers.
Samsung’s wearable robot GEMS showcased at CES 2019
SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR FITNESS ENTHUSIASTS
Sources said Bot Fit is designed to enhance the effectiveness of walking exercises on flat ground.
Users can choose from different exercise intensities, and AI optimizes the intensity based on the user’s performance.
The exercise programs are divided into four categories: Power Walking, Interval Walking, Speed Walking and Leisure Walking, differentiated by the coaching intensity of the AI trainer.
Power Walking involves Bot Fit controlling the user to maintain a fast pace, ideal for those seeking high-intensity exercise, while Interval Walking alternates between fast and slow walking intervals, making it great for a cardio workout.
Samsung’s wearable robot serves as a workout assistant
Cardio workout or cardiovascular exercise is any vigorous activity that increases heart rate and respiration and raises oxygen and blood flow throughout the body while using large muscle groups of the body repetitively and rhythmically.
Bot Fit offers two modes: Aqua and Booster.
The Aqua mode adds resistance to the walk as if wearing sandbags, while the Booster mode helps users maintain a wider stride and walk faster.
COLLABORATIVE ROBOTS
Samsung is nurturing robotics as one of its key businesses to drive future growth.
The company established a robotics business team in 2022.
Hyundai Rotem’s wearable robot H-frame
Samsung, the world’s largest memory chipmaker and smartphone manufacturer, initially planned to bring its first wearable robot EX1 to market by the end of 2023, but the plan wasn’t realized.
In addition to the assistive robot Bot Fit, the company is also spending heavily to enhance its presence in the collaborative robot market.
Last year, Samsung said acquired a controlling stake in Rainbow Robotics Co., a Korean collaborative robot maker.
Collaborative robots are intended for direct human-robot interaction within a shared space, or where humans and robots are nearby. Those robots are getting more advanced with artificial intelligence and big data.
Rainbow Robotics was founded in 2011 as the humanoid robot research center of the Korea Advanced Institution of Science and Technology (KAIST), one of the country’s most prestigious universities.
Rainbow is also developing products such as quadruped walking robots, bipedal platforms and autonomous mobile robots with Hyundai Rotem Co., a unit of Hyundai Motor Co.
According to market research firm Expert Market Research, the global healthcare robot market is expected to grow to $84.1 billion by 2032 from $12.7 billion in 2023.
Rainbow Robotics’ bipedal humanoid robot HUBO
HUMANOID
In the mid- to long-term, Samsung aims to unveil a humanoid robot, similar to those by Tesla Inc. and Figure AI Inc., a US-based humanoid robot-making startup.
Samsung has invested millions of dollars in Figure AI.
Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee recently urged company executives to develop a humanoid robot that can be deployed in semiconductor factories.
Samsung is accelerating its robotics R&D by assigning robotics experts to the Samsung Research Center and the SAIT, formerly the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, which handle the conglomerate’s future technology development.
By Jeong-Soo Hwang
hjs@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.
