SK Innovation deploys robots at Ulsan plant

Boston Dynamics' Spot robot is deployed for a test operation at SK Innovation's oil refinery in Ulsan. [SK INNOVATION]

A robot dog and a robot snake will soon be roaming around SK Innovation’s Ulsan plant, the oil refiner said Thursday.

The robots will patrol the refinery using cameras and sensors.

SK Innovation began the test operation of Spot, a four-legged robot dog developed by Boston Dynamics, at its 8.26-square-meter (2,042-acre) oil refinery in the southeast city of Ulsan for safety patrols to check for things like gas leaks.

Boston Dynamics is a Massachusetts-based company 30 percent owned by Hyundai Motor, 20 percent by Hyundai Mobis, 20 percent by Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung and 10 percent by Hyundai Glovis. Its Spot robot made appearances at CES 2022 with Chung and during BTS's recent Busan concert as well.

Guardian S, a snake-shaped crawler robot made by Sarcos Robotics, will also be tested at the plant this year.

As the Ulsan Complex is large and full of intertwined pipes, the robots will go into narrow blind spots that employees cannot easily reach. Using cameras and sensors, the robots will check if there are cracks or other abnormalities such as gas leaks.

The company hopes to use the robots for specialized purposes such as fire control and three-dimensional scanning of the facilities in the future when their functions become more advanced.

“By deploying the two intelligent robots, SK Innovation’s Ulsan Complex will become a safer factory equipped with more advanced technologies,” said Seo Kwan-hee, head of SK Energy’s new tech and process engineering office.

“We will continue to seek more diverse opportunities for digital transformation at the SK Ulsan Complex.”

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]