THE KOREA ECONOMIC DAILY, GLOBAL EDITION

Yogiyo, South Korea’s second-largest food delivery app, announced on Friday that it will begin outdoor autonomous robot delivery tests in Songdo, Incheon, starting this August.

To facilitate this, Yogiyo has signed a business agreement with Neubility, an autonomous robot service company, for the autonomous robot delivery service project. The two companies will collaborate on the joint development of the robot delivery service, integration of related systems and marketing efforts.

Within the test area for autonomous robot delivery, customers can order from stores that offer robot delivery through the Yogiyo app. The robot will locate the customer and deliver to a specified location. Restaurant owners who opt for robot delivery will load the food onto the robot waiting in front of the store after preparing the meal.

Yogiyo plans to gradually expand the service areas to urban residential areas and university districts in Seoul by the end of this year.

"Robot delivery services are emerging as an alternative in areas with rider shortages or difficult delivery conditions during peak times," said Yogiyo CTO Jang Soobaek. "We will focus on enhancing the technology and safety of robot delivery in collaboration with Neubility."

Prior to Yogiyo, Woowa Brothers, the parent company of South Korea's food delivery app Baedal Minjok, has been conducting an outdoor robot delivery pilot project since last year using its own robot "Dilly" in the Teheran-ro area around COEX Mall in Gangnam District, targeting six designated buildings.

Woowa Brothers has also been testing Dilly in Bangi-dong, Songpa District, since last month to introduce robot delivery in residential areas.

Woowa Brothers plans to obtain certification for the operational safety of outdoor mobile robots by next month. Once certified, outdoor mobile robots will have the same rights as pedestrians, allowing them to use sidewalks and crosswalks.

Write to Joo-Wan Kim at kjwan@hankyung.com