Lotte Himart to pilot industry-specific humanoid robots in logistics

Lotte Himart announced Wednesday that it has been selected for the 2026 Robot Industry Technology Development Project, a government-backed initiative overseen by the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The project aims to develop an industry-specific humanoid robot model domestically, reducing reliance on foreign robots and AI models while building a foundation for AI-driven logistics transformation. The project runs from this year through 2031. Yujin Robot, a robotics specialist, will lead the initiative, with Siseal and the Korea Electronics Technology Institute participating as research institutions.

Lotte Himart will join as a demand-side partner alongside Lotte Global Logistics. Ahead of deploying humanoid robots at its Icheon logistics center in 2028, the company will analyze planned processes in a simulated environment and finalize demonstration scenarios and evaluation criteria.

Logistics operations involve a wide variety of product models, capacities and color options, and the similar appearances and varying box sizes of appliances can lead to mispicking or misdelivery. Home appliances, which consumers need to use right away, are particularly prone to causing significant inconvenience when delivered incorrectly.

Lotte Himart plans to deploy humanoid robots in logistics operations, supporting the demonstration process through success and failure data and proposing improvements. The company will also verify the feasibility of a "fully autonomous continuous process" in which humanoid robots independently carry out logistics tasks and respond to a range of unexpected situations.

Lotte Himart has been participating in the development of industry-specific physical AI and demonstration frameworks. In May, it was selected for a Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy project under the AI Application Product Rapid Commercialization Support Program, known as AX Sprint, and is currently carrying out government-funded work on developing muscle-assist wearable robots and optimizing logistics operations. The company is also applying exoskeleton suits developed by FRT Robotics at its Daegu logistics center in Chilgok-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, in home appliance distribution and logistics operations.

"We expect that introducing humanoid robots to our logistics centers will reduce worker fatigue and improve efficiency by minimizing errors such as mispicking and misdelivery," said Shin Hyeon-chae, head of Lotte Himart's supply chain management division. "We plan to continue leveraging the characteristics of our logistics centers to participate in various humanoid robot demonstrations and contribute to advancing logistics AI."