Hyundai Motor Company Union Protests Plans to Use Robots at Manufacturing Plants

Hyundai Motor Company’s Korean labour union has formally protested the company’s plan to widely roll out humanoid robots, which it sees as a threat to jobs for factory workers. In a letter seen by Reuters, the union has declared that its permission is needed before management can introduce even a single new robot to any production line. The company has not yet responded.

The union’s letter is a response to Hyundai’s announcements at the CES trade show in Las Vegas earlier this month. The company unveiled a group-level AI Robotics Strategy which it is calling “Partnering Human Progress”, confirming plans to use large numbers of Boston Dynamics’ next-generation Atlas humanoid robots at its facilities around the world by 2028.

The scope of Hyundai’s investment in these robots has not yet been announced. However, the announcement emphasised that the robots are intended to work alongside humans, reducing the physical demands of their work and taking over tasks that involve lots of repetition, lifting heavy loads, or being in hazardous conditions. 

According to Boston Dynamics, the Atlas robot can be taught most new tasks in under one day, to make deployment quick and easy. It has been designed with human-scale hands, and joints that can rotate fully. It operates with 56 degrees of freedom (DoF), or points at which its parts can move. It can replace its own batteries when needed in order to keep working autonomously. Each unit can lift up to 50 kg, and can operate within a temperature range of 20–40 °C). It is also designed to be water-resistant and easily washable.

Hyundai acquired pioneering robotics firm Boston Dynamics in 2000. Its Atlas humanoid robot was one of the first to be demonstrated performing tasks and moving with speed, strength and agility vastly exceeding what a human can achieve. Hyundai has in recent years discussed plans to deploy robots and AI in its manufacturing and logistics operations, and has demonstrated various projects such as a robotic exoskeleton that can improve human performance while reducing the risk of injury, and a quadripedal robot designed to perform inspections and maintenance tasks.