Self-driving cars: what the Hyundai test teaches with waiter robots

When a car is to be put into production, the tests are the most inventive and complicated. But what Hyundai has just done to experiment with autonomous driving is beyond imagination: it has put all the driverless technology into small robots for hotel room service.

They are called “Plug & Drive (PnD)”, they have the typical appearance of robots, but in reality they are small cars, now at the center of new pilot programs. These include a complicated experimental service at the Rolling Hills Hotel – on the outskirts of Seoul – which uses a PnD robot to deliver objects, food and drinks directly to customers’ rooms.

How the robot is made

In fact, the robot consists of two pieces: an integrated storage unit on top of a PnD drive unit which is actually a small car. Next to the delivery bay, a connected screen displays information for customers. The four wheels then have all-in-one technology, namely the one that combines intelligent steering, braking, electric traction and suspension, including a steering actuator for 360-degree rotation. The robotic module moves autonomously with the help of LiDAR sensors and cameras, while the integrated storage unit allows it to transport and deliver products to customers.

Thus, thanks to the integration of autonomous driving, the PnD robot can find the optimal route within a space and deliver the parcels to the recipients, and is also able to recognize and avoid stationary and moving objects and drive fluid, ensuring fast delivery times. Speaking of deliveries: The Rolling Hills Hotel uses the Hyundai robot for room service from 20.00 to 22.00 each day, delivering items, food and drinks requested by customers. Hotel guests can order room service using Kakao Talk, a popular messaging app, and can follow the progress of the delivery in real time. Then, when the robot arrives in the room, it recognizes the opening of the door and, once it senses the addressee, it automatically opens the glove compartment.

Talk to customers

At this point he can also start a conversation with the customer, through the screen, also adjusting the tone-of-voice according to the recipient. Also, when moving between floors, the unit can determine the number of people boarding an elevator and wait for the next elevator if the first one is crowded.

In short, the Hyundai technicians have understood that managing deliveries to floors can be a very important test. But that you can go further. It also partnered with Woowa Brothers, a Korean delivery company that runs the food delivery app Baemin. The idea that in this way we can further advance the technology and service capabilities of robots for last mile deliveries, even outdoors.

A complicated test

With Woowa Brothers, in fact, the test becomes even more complicated because the Group’s robot is used for door-to-door (D2D) restaurant services in a residential/commercial complex on the outskirts of Seoul. After a customer places an order online via Baemin, the robot locates what is required within the shopping center connected to the apartment complex and delivers it to the customer’s doorstep.

To activate the service, the Group uses wireless communication to access the entrance doors and elevators of apartment buildings, thus solving what was previously a problem of marketing the delivery service via robots. The robot can thus enter the residential complex, access the upper floors through the elevator control system and deliver the food to the customer’s home.

Exit strategy

The problem now is that this robot works so well that Hyundai has started receiving several requests for its “waiter” from companies specializing in home services, very interested in innovations in last mile delivery. An interesting twist: if the self-driving car never sees the light, the Korean company has already found an exit strategy for this technology.