Robots delivering food to doorsteps and serving tables at restaurants may not be that far in the future.

LG Electronics and Woowa Brothers said Friday they will jointly develop food delivery-and-serving robots, combing LG’s artificial intelligence and automated indoor driving technologies with Woowa Brothers’ food delivery know-how.

Woowa Brothers operates Baedal Minjok, Korea’s biggest food delivery app by market share. The unicorn was acquired by Germany’s Delivery Hero in January at the price of $4 billion.

“We are investing and expanding in indoor and outdoor robotics business to build a future where more people can enjoy good food wherever they want,” said Yoon Hyun-joon, vice president and head of the new business division at Woowa Brothers. 

Roh Jin-seo (right), LG Electronics senior vice president and head of the robot business center, and Yoon Hyun-joon, Woowa Brothers vice president of the new business division, sign a memorandum of understanding at Woowa Brothers’ headquarters in Songpa-gu, Seoul, Thursday. (LG Electronics)

“We have researched and tested robotics technologies since 2017, and hope to create good synergy with LG Electronics’ advanced know-how,” Yoon said.

LG Electronics’ Roh Jin-seo, senior vice president and head of the robot business center, said, “Through this collaboration we wish to build a better future where humans and robots coexist.”

“We will continue to introduce differentiated robotics solutions to offer new experiences and value to our consumers,” Roh said.

The two companies have formed a consortium to apply for the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement’s call for business proposals for 2020 service robots.

At the Consumer Electronics Show 2020 in Las Vegas in January, LG Electronics introduced restaurant robots called LG CLOi Dining Solution. The LG CLOi solution is being developed to enable robots to show people to their tables at restaurants. It also aims to enable robots to take orders, cook and serve.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcopr.com)