The Korea Forest Service’s National Institute of Forest Science (Director Kim Yong-gwan) announced on the 6th that it has developed an autonomous forest work robot utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and is promoting research to enhance its field applicability.
This technology has been developed as part of the ‘Research and Development Project for Solving Disasters and Issues in the Forestry Sector.’ It integrates AI-based deep learning technology into an autonomous forestry robot that combines GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) and INS (Inertial Navigation System) for a unified navigation system.
The deep learning technology compensates for positional errors that may occur during autonomous driving by learning route video information collected through vision sensors. This ensures the autonomous identification of paths and extraction of route centerlines in forest environments, with successful verification through field tests.
The newly developed AI technology operates directly on the robot, allowing it to function independently without any network or cloud connectivity. This ensures stable application to robots and mechanical equipment in forest work sites.
Dr. Jae-Hun Oh, from the Forest Technology Management Research Institute of the National Institute of Forest Science, stated, “The autonomous driving technology based on mounted AI can be utilized not only in unmanned forest work robots but also in existing forestry machinery, contributing to the enhancement of safety and efficiency in forest operations when combined with sensor fusion technology in the future.”
