Hyundai Motors' Robotics LAB has been developing “DAL-e Delivery,” an indoor/outdoor delivery robot, along with its related services. Starting on November 16th, 2022, we initiated a demonstration of unmanned delivery service at the Rolling Hills Hotel in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. This December marks the successful completion of a one-year unmanned delivery service by DAL-e Delivery. Let's delve into its journey.

  For those unfamiliar, DAL-e Delivery is an indoor/outdoor delivery robot developed in-house at our Robotics LAB based on a proprietary PnD module and operates through an integrated control system specifically optimized for it.

  At first glance, it might seem like a hotelier delivering items to guest rooms, but the process includes customer orders, order reception, robot dispatching, loading delivery items, autonomous driving, elevator boarding, and receiving items, among other detailed steps. To address these processes without issues a combination of autonomous driving hardware and control/service systems is essential. Hyundai Motors' Robotics LAB has developed smooth and stable autonomous driving and avoidance technology through an appropriate PnD drive unit, while also creating customer-friendly ordering, control, and dispatch systems.

  

  From December 2022, we conducted a one-year PoC (Proof of Concept) at the Rolling Hills Hotel in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. Previously, hoteliers had to personally deliver room service during late-night hours, a round trip taking about 20-25 minutes, but this was replaced by DAL-e Delivery. Shall we take a look at what happened during this process?


1) DAL-e Delivery Catches the Attention of a Customer’s Child


  During our continued operation, we received an urgent call from the restaurant on a day when we didn't operate DAL-e Delivery due to stabilization work on its linked system: “A customer wants to use the DAL-e Delivery service.” Just as we were asking for understanding about not operating today due to maintenance...

  “The customer's child has always been interested in robots and visited Rolling Hills today to use DAL-e Delivery... The child desperately waited until evening because operation hours are late at night but now they found out there will be no operation... They really want to use it... What should we do? They came with us and are so disappointed...”
 
  We postponed scheduled tasks momentarily thinking that we couldn't let down expectations from customers who needed DAL-e Delivery service, and all the developers, operators, and hoteliers rushed together to start up the system and begin services.

  Would it be okay if we operate while undergoing stabilization work? Despite concerns like these, we successfully completed the delivery as usual. The sight of the happy child felt like a reward for all the trials and errors we went through in developing the robots and systems for this delivery service.


2) Becoming the Parents of DAL-e Delivery


  Shortly after starting operations in December 2022, we visited Rolling Hills for operational checks. As the hoteliers were the primary users of the delivery robot, we sought their feedback on any usage inconveniences.

  Upon entering the restaurant and meeting the hoteliers, one of them said, "Oh, you're DAL-e's parents!" They playfully added, "Here we have DAL-e's mom and dad, and among us hoteliers, there are also uncles and aunts for DAL-e." That made me think that DAL-e must have more than ten parents. After all, its body is made by the hardware team and its soul is given by the software team. This amusing memory still remains with me.

  We've witnessed how eagerly customers sought DAL-e and how DAL-e Delivery seamlessly integrated into the ecosystem of Rolling Hills.

  The year-long PoC brought significant meaning to our Robotics LAB. It allowed us to verify the effectiveness of PnD mobility functions as well as delivery and logistics solutions. This confirmed future possibilities in the food delivery sector. Through real-world operations and customers' reactions, we were able to develop better services.

  We look forward to your continued interest and expectation to meet DAL-e Delivery equipped with better delivery robots and integrated solutions at more diverse sites