Korea to develop coal-mining robot

The Korea Coal Corporation said yesterday it will develop an environmentally friendly coal-mining robot to raise productivity.

The state-run company said it signed yesterday a preliminary agreement with Daedok Innopolis, Korea Institute of Machinery and Metals, and Hydrau-Matics Inc. to research and develop an intelligent robot to help develop resources.

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Hanbat National University will also be participating in developing the robot.

According to the Korea Coal Corporation, robots would reduce the time required to mine for coal in steep areas and help raise productivity by 30 percent.

This could mean raising production values by up to 25 billion won ($20.1 million) to 40 billion won a year.

The development project is estimated to cost 3 billion won over a three-year period.

(sohjung@heraldm.com)



By Yoo Soh-jung