LG Electronics said on Monday it has begun trials for its indoor robot delivery service.
The company’s service robots, called LG Cloi Servebot, will deliver products from convenience stores run by local store chain GS25 to anybody within LG Science Park, the company’s headquarters in Seoul.
The robots can get onto elevators on their own to move between nine floors above ground and a basement level to deliver lunch boxes, sandwiches, and drinks, LG said.
LG Cloi Servebot has three drawers that can each carry up to 15kg of goods.
Customers can order using their KakaoTalk chat app. After the order is made, convenience store employees will put the ordered goods into the robot’s drawers and input the destination.
The robots will then depart and send their destination information to a nearby elevator wirelessly. Once the robots arrive at their destination, they will call and text the customer to notify them of their arrival.
The whole process takes at most five minutes, LG said.
Those managing the robots will be able to monitor the units’ status and browse their delivery history.
LG said the robots will save time for busy office workers and reduce human-to-human contact. The company added it will collaborate with GS Retail, which runs the GS25 brand, to improve the convenience and user experience of the delivery service.
In July, LG deployed robots to Seoul National University Hospital to help staff carry around medical equipment.
In March, LG Cloi Servebots, which have shelves instead of drawers, were deployed to a restaurant to carry food trays to tables. The robots have been launched in more than 50 restaurants since then.
