LS ELECTRIC Co., Ltd. to Monitor Transformer Factory 24 Hours a Day with Quadruped Robots

[Financial News] LS ELECTRIC Co., Ltd. is deploying quadruped robots to its ultra-high-voltage transformer production site to automate equipment inspections and safety management.
LS ELECTRIC Co., Ltd. announced on the 22nd that it recently introduced Boston Dynamics' quadruped robot Spot to its Busan plant to enhance its production facility monitoring and quality and safety management systems.
The company has been officially operating two Spot units after conducting a trial operation for about two months starting last July in collaboration with Hyundai AutoEver, a specialist in robot system integration (SI).
The Busan plant primarily produces ultra-high-voltage transformers. Production volume is rapidly expanding due to the recent increase in investment in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and power grids. LS ELECTRIC Co., Ltd. plans to establish a predictive maintenance system that uses Spot to inspect key production facilities in real time and predict equipment failures in advance.
Spot will initially be deployed to manage the vacuum pressure drying (VPD) equipment, a core process for producing ultra-high-voltage transformers. Equipped with a thermal imaging camera, it automatically inspects chamber-door sealing defects and heat leaks without contact. It also collects data on heat generation, noise, and vibration from vacuum pumps, motors, and control panels to detect signs of abnormalities at an early stage.
At the production site, autonomous patrols monitor the operating status of temperature and humidity control equipment and automatically collect temperature and humidity data. The company explains that this can improve the accuracy of process management by securing environmental data even from blind spots that were difficult to check with existing sensors. Based on the accumulated data, LS ELECTRIC Co., Ltd. plans to analyze the correlation between the production environment and product quality to establish optimal production conditions.
Spot is also used to manage test equipment and major utility facilities at the plant. It periodically patrols motors, coolers, pumps, chillers, and generators, linking the collected temperature, vibration, and noise data with an AI analysis system to predict the likelihood of failures. It also performs patrol duties in areas where worker access is restricted and around hazardous equipment.
LS ELECTRIC Co., Ltd. plans to build an AI analysis model based on operational data collected at its Busan plant and expand its application to major production bases in Korea and overseas. In the mid- to long term, the company envisions establishing a walking-robot-based smart patrol system across all its plants to create a digital manufacturing platform that integrates and manages production, quality, and safety data.
"We plan to secure competitiveness in quality, price, and delivery by actively integrating AI and robot technologies into manufacturing sites," said an LS ELECTRIC Co., Ltd. official. "Starting with the walking-robot-based smart management system being introduced first at the Busan plant, we will accelerate the digital transformation of all our plants and secure global-level smart manufacturing competitiveness."
[email protected] Park Ji-yeon Reporter