Hyundai Wia to deploy unmanned forklifts at Kia AutoLand Hwaseong

Hyundai Wia has announced that it will deploy its 4-ton unmanned forklifts at Kia AutoLand Hwaseong starting in May 2027. This marks the first time in South Korea that a fully unmanned forklift capable of performing both internal transport and truck loading/unloading tasks will be supplied to a manufacturing site.

Developed using the company’s experience with Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR), the forklifts utilize LiDAR, vision sensors, and safety scanners to navigate and detect obstacles. The technology incorporates digital twin simulations to optimize movement paths within factory environments. A key technical achievement is the ability to maintain a 100% pallet recognition rate even if the pallet is displaced by up to 250mm or tilted by more than 10 degrees, accounting for variations in truck height and ground conditions.

The equipment is designed for safety with a maximum speed of 6.5 km/h and safety scanners on all four sides to trigger immediate stops upon detecting hazards. This deployment is part of Hyundai Wia’s strategy to expand its ‘H-Motion’ mobile robot lineup, which includes AMRs and parking robots, to provide comprehensive logistics automation solutions for global manufacturing sites.