AI autonomous robots to cut aircraft inspection time from 12 hours to 1 hour

South Korea will allow autonomous robots powered by AI to conduct aircraft inspections, a move expected to cut inspection times from 8 to 12 hours down to within one hour.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy convened the third Industrial Convergence Regulatory Special Cases Committee on Sunday, reviewing nine regulatory sandbox items and approving five as industrial convergence regulatory sandbox projects.

A regulatory sandbox is a system that temporarily waives or exempts existing regulations to allow new products and services using emerging technologies to be tested, verified or brought to market ahead of formal rule changes.

Under the newly approved exemptions, robots will be permitted to photograph the undersides of aircraft at aprons in Incheon and Gimpo airports, with AI identifying any damage. Pilot operations at both airports are expected to cut inspection times to under one hour — down from the current 8 to 12 hours — while also improving safety for maintenance workers who must otherwise operate at heights of up to 20 meters.

In the energy sector, a shared energy storage system (ESS) pilot project involving Raon Friends and other participants will be launched. Under the scheme, electricity drawn by consumers from the shared ESS is deducted from their actual usage, reducing their electricity bills.

Current law prohibits ESS operators from selling stored electricity directly to consumers without going through the power exchange, and bars power brokerage platforms from intermediating such transactions. The pilot aims to test new models for electricity trading and use within those constraints.

The government said it expects the pilot to ease distribution network overloads during peak demand hours and lower electricity costs for participating consumers.

Separately, the Korea Fisheries Infrastructure Public Agency will be allowed to support private-sector initiatives to revitalize aging fishing villages. Existing law bans the leasing of fishing rights to outside parties and the use of mechanical equipment in fishing grounds.

The new exemptions will permit the use of machinery to harvest clams and operate tourism services — including haenyeo diving experiences and tidal flat activities — in fishing villages in Gochang, North Jeolla Province, and Jeju. The measures are expected to raise productivity in the fishing sector, boost fishery-based tourism and increase actual income for fishing village cooperatives.

Kim Seong-yeol, director general for industrial growth at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said the committee had approved exemptions closely tied to people's daily lives, ranging from autonomous robots responsible for aircraft safety to public leasing of village fishing rights to boost productivity in fishing communities. "We will continue to rationalize regulations so that they contribute to the development of our industries and so that people can feel the difference in their everyday lives," he said.