Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) Physical AI Convergence Technology Project Group (hereinafter, the Project Group) announced that it plans to begin full-scale implementation to build an AX (AI Transformation) industry ecosystem centered on Physical AI.

The Project Group conducted an on-site inspection titled "On-Site Check of Pre-Verification Outcomes of the Jeonbuk AX Project" at 3:00 PM on January 26 (Mon) in the JBNU Manufacturing Technology Demonstration Lab (Changjo 2 Building). The on-site inspection was arranged to directly examine and share the infrastructure and outcomes established through the 2025 pre-verification (PoC) ahead of the full-scale Jeonbuk AX project to be launched in 2026.

The event was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, the Deputy Governor for Economic Affairs of Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province, the President of JBNU, and key stakeholders from the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA), KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), Sungkyunkwan University, Hyundai Motor Company, Jeonbuk Technopark, Camtic Institute, and participating companies involved in the demonstration, representing industry, academia, research, and government.

Physical AI Pre-Verification (PoC): A Testing Ground for Manufacturing Innovation in Jeonbuk

The Physical AI pre-verification project (PoC), the first phase of the Jeonbuk AX initiative, was implemented over five months from August to December 2025 with KRW 21.9 billion in national funding. JBNU led the project with KAIST, Sungkyunkwan University, Hyundai Motor Company, Jeonbuk Technopark, and Camtic Institute, and regional manufacturing firms such as D.H. Autoread, Donghae Metal, and Daeseung Precision participated.

The core of the PoC was to verify Physical AI technologies that can be applied directly in manufacturing sites. For this purpose, JBNU established a "Manufacturing Technology Demonstration Lab" that faithfully reproduces manufacturing processes on site.

JBNU Manufacturing Technology Demonstration Lab: Demonstration Infrastructure Where "Experiment Is Production"

The JBNU Manufacturing Technology Demonstration Lab occupies a total area of 846 m² on the second floor of Changjo 2 Building and was built with KRW 5.15 billion in national funding. The space goes beyond a simple research facility. It has demonstration infrastructure (P-Zone and I-Zone) that enables testing and validation of production scenarios under the same conditions as an actual factory.

▶ P-Zone (Production Zone)

The P-Zone (Production Zone) is a flexible production space that integrates the entire process from material supply to processing, assembly, inspection, and discharge by linking AMR (autonomous mobile robots), industrial robots, collaborative robots, and vision systems. It manages process flows in real time through human–robot–equipment collaborative intelligence and digital twin-based integration with MES, and is designed to validate high-mix, low-volume production scenarios.

▶ I-Zone (Innovation Zone)

The I-Zone (Innovation Zone) is equipped to collect training data and perform Sim-to-Real validation using humanoids, mobile dual-arm robots, quadruped robots, manipulators, and motion-capture equipment. It enables experimentation and validation of next-generation Physical AI core technologies in real environments, including multimodal/LLM-based manipulation, multi-robot collaboration, and teleoperation-based data collection.

Positioning Jeonbuk as South Korea’s Manufacturing AX Hub

Yang Oh-bong, President of JBNU, emphasized that the pre-verification (PoC) demonstrated that Physical AI can operate beyond the research stage and in real-world settings. He stated the intention to unite industry, academia, research, and government around Jeonbuk to establish a core hub for manufacturing AX in South Korea.

JBNU Physical AI Convergence Technology Project Group: "Finding Answers for the Stage of Future Manufacturing in Jeonbuk"

Kim Sun-tae, Director of the Project Group (Department of Software Engineering, JBNU), evaluated the on-site inspection not as a mere event but as a practical venue to link the technologies, data, and collaborative networks accumulated during the 2025 PoC to the main project in 2026. He noted that verifying the technical feasibility to respond to future manufacturing environments, where high-mix, low-volume production becomes common, at the site level is significant because it lays the technical foundation for future large-scale AX project implementation. The Project Group plans to continue nurturing Jeonbuk as a hub for future manufacturing innovation through field-centered technology validation.