Who makes Korea's patrol robots? Neubility, Intellivix, Maum AI and Robotis AI explained
Korea's patrol robots come from four companies, none of which has disclosed a fleet in service: Neubility, with two sidewalk models certified by KIRIA on Oct 7; Intellivix, which earmarks KRW 2.5bn of its IPO for the ARGOS quadruped; Maum AI, holder of the first sandbox permit for a quadruped on public riverside paths, with Cheonan trial sites named on Oct 19; and Robotis AI, building a GAEMI patrol model with Innodep.
Certificates require remote approval at unsignalled crossings, so the robots are not fully autonomous, and two delivery operators returned their certificates this autumn.
Korea's patrol robots are being built by four kinds of company, and none of them has yet disclosed a fleet in service. Neubility runs wheeled sidewalk robots under state safety certificates, Intellivix is raising IPO money for a four-legged patrol robot, Maum AI won the first permission to walk a quadruped on public riverside paths, and Robotis AI is turning a delivery robot into a patrol unit with a video-analytics partner. What links them is not a customer order book but a set of rules: outdoor robot certificates issued by the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement (KIRIA) and case-by-case approvals from the government's regulatory sandbox.
Cheonan city added the latest piece on Oct 19, saying in a statement that Maum AI's quadruped will patrol the Cheonancheon stream, Cheonhoji reservoir and Samgeori Park under a conditional special permit. This explainer sets out who builds what, what the rules allow, and why the sector's real test is still ahead.
Four routes into the same job
[Neubility](/news/neubility-neubi-flow-neubi-shield-kiria-outdoor-robot-safety-certification-20261008) is the furthest along on paper. KIRIA posted on Oct 8 that it had certified two new models for outdoor operation on Oct 7: the NEUBI FLOW, with a 20 kg payload, and the NEUBI SHIELD, with a 10 kg payload. Both weigh about 74 kg and 76.5 kg, top out at 7.2 km/h and climb slopes of up to 15 degrees, and both are run from Neubility's NCC 1.0 control system.
[Intellivix](/news/intellivix-kosdaq-ipo-krw-19bn-22-5bn-argos-quadruped-patrol-robot-ai-video-analytics-profitable-general-listing-20261016), an AI video-analytics company, is the money story. Its prospectus, filed with DART on Oct 14, offers 2.5 million new shares at KRW 7,600 to 9,000, raising KRW 19.0bn to 22.5bn, and earmarks KRW 2.5bn to commercialise ARGOS, a quadruped patrol robot running its own vision-language software. Retail subscription runs on Oct 21 and 22. ARGOS therefore takes 11.1% to 13.2% of the planned proceeds, a MEKAWIRE calculation from the prospectus range.
Maum AI took the regulatory route. The trade ministry's sandbox committee, in the same Oct 13 meeting that let [Robros put 20 humanoids into factories](/news/korea-sandbox-robros-20-humanoids-factories-shipyard-20261013), allowed Maum AI to run a four-legged patrol robot on public riverside walkways for the first time. Cheonan says the robot is meant to detect flooding or crime, guide evacuations and pass on-site information to the city's control system, and that the trial sits inside the science ministry's on-device AI service programme.
Robotis AI, spun out of Robotis in 2025, is the partnership case. [Innodep said on Oct 15](/news/innodep-robotis-ai-gaemi-autonomous-patrol-robot-mobile-ai-video-control-mou-kpex-2026-20261015) that it would build patrol services on Robotis AI's outdoor GAEMI robot linked to its video platform, as Boannews reported; no contract value or customer was disclosed.
- Neubility
- NEUBI FLOW, NEUBI SHIELD
- Wheeled, sidewalk
- KIRIA outdoor operating-safety certificates
- Oct 7, 2026
- Intellivix
- ARGOS
- Quadruped
- KRW 2.5bn of IPO proceeds earmarked (prospectus)
- Oct 14, 2026
- Maum AI
- Quadruped patrol robot
- Quadruped
- Sandbox permit for public riverside walkways; Cheonan sites named
- Oct 13 and 19, 2026
- Robotis AI with Innodep
- GAEMI
- Wheeled, outdoor
- Patrol MOU with video-analytics platform (outlet report)
- Oct 15, 2026
Sources: KIRIA notices, Intellivix prospectus on DART, trade ministry sandbox release via korea.kr, Cheonan city statement; the Innodep MOU was reported by Boannews and is not confirmed in a company release. No company has disclosed units in service.
As of Oct 19, 2026
What the certificates actually permit
The certificates come with limits that shape the business. KIRIA's terms require both Neubility robots to wait for remote approval from the control centre before crossing at a crosswalk without traffic lights, and cap the SHIELD at 5.76 km/h on slopes of 10 degrees or more, 20% below its top speed. A patrol robot in Korea is therefore not fully autonomous in law. It is a robot with a remote operator on call, which means every unit carries a staffing cost.
The same notices show the exit door. KIRIA posted on Sept 22 that Woowa Brothers, operator of the Baemin delivery app, had returned the certificate for its dilly X2 delivery robot, and on Oct 2 that Avride Korea had returned the certificate for its R robot, first granted in June 2024. Two delivery operators left the sidewalk just as patrol models arrived.
- Payload
- 20 kg
- 10 kg
- Weight
- 74 kg
- 76.5 kg
- Top speed
- 7.2 km/h
- 7.2 km/h
- Max slope
- 15 degrees
- 15 degrees
- Slope limit
- None stated
- 5.76 km/h on 10 degrees or more (20% below top speed)
- Unsignalled crosswalk
- Remote approval required
- Remote approval required
Source: KIRIA notices, Oct 8, 2026. MEKAWIRE calculation: (7.2 − 5.76) / 7.2 = 20%. Intellivix share for ARGOS: 2.5 / 22.5 = 11.1% to 2.5 / 19.0 = 13.2%.
As of Oct 19, 2026
MEKAWIRE analysis
Korean patrol robots are a regulatory product before they are a commercial one. The certificates and sandbox permits are the barrier to entry, and the open question is whether a city will pay for a robot that still needs a remote operator at every unsignalled crossing.
The evidence is the mismatch between permissions and purchases. In MEKAWIRE's records, every step in the sector this autumn has been a certificate, a sandbox approval, a memorandum or IPO use-of-proceeds line; none is a priced municipal contract. The strongest counter-argument is that public safety is a buyer that does not need a delivery app's unit economics. A city that already pays for CCTV control rooms can add robots to the same operators, which is exactly how Cheonan and Innodep describe their systems.
In the bull case, Cheonan's trial produces data that the sandbox turns into a permanent rule, Intellivix lists and funds ARGOS, and Neubility's certified models become the template for municipal tenders. In the bear case, the remote-approval conditions keep operating costs close to a human patrol, cities treat robots as showcase pilots, and the sector follows delivery robots off the sidewalk.
Three dated signals will tell. Intellivix's retail subscription on Oct 21 and 22 and its listing price; the KPEX 2026 show in Songdo from Oct 21, where Innodep and Robotis AI plan to show their patrol model; and whether Cheonan or any other city publishes a procurement notice with a unit price for patrol robots within the next 12 months.
Elsewhere in autonomy today, [HD Hyundai tested a 368-ton uncrewed vessel with Anduril](/news/hd-hyundai-anduril-uncrewed-surface-vessel-demo-long-beach-368-ton-vaone-lattice-20261019).
- Woowa Brothers and Avride Korea returned delivery-robot certificates (Sept 22, Oct 2)
- Four companies, no disclosed fleet in service
- First sandbox permit for a quadruped on public riverside paths; Cheonan trial sites named Oct 19
- Two models certified by KIRIA on Oct 7, 7.2 km/h, remote approval at unsignalled crossings
- KRW 2.5bn of a KRW 19.0bn to 22.5bn IPO for the ARGOS quadruped
- Intellivix subscription Oct 21 to 22; KPEX 2026 from Oct 21
- GAEMI patrol model with Innodep, to be shown at KPEX from Oct 21 (outlet report)
Why it matters
Patrol is the first public-sector job Korean outdoor robots are being certified for after delivery. The rules written now, especially the remote-approval condition, will set operating costs for every city that buys.
It also matters for investors: Intellivix's IPO puts a public-market price on a company that has written a patrol robot into its use of proceeds.
Rival analysis
Neubility leads on certification, Intellivix on capital, Maum AI on regulatory precedent and Robotis AI on partnership. The wheeled and legged camps split by terrain: wheeled robots suit flat sidewalks, quadrupeds stairs and slopes, which Cheonan cites as the reason for its choice. Delivery operators Woowa Brothers and Avride Korea have just left the field.
Valuation context
Only Intellivix has a public price, a KRW 19.0bn to 22.5bn raise at KRW 7,600 to 9,000 a share. MEKAWIRE holds no verified funding round for Neubility, and Maum AI and Robotis AI disclosed no deal values for their patrol projects.
Supply-chain implications
Software and control rooms are local: Neubility's NCC 1.0, Intellivix's vision-language model, Innodep's video platform. Maum AI's earlier landmine trial used a commercial quadruped it did not build, as Robot Newspaper reported, which suggests legged hardware may still be bought in.
Signals to watch
Intellivix subscription Oct 21 to 22 and listing price; KPEX 2026 from Oct 21; any municipal procurement notice with a patrol-robot unit price within 12 months; any change to KIRIA's remote-approval condition.
Analyst view
Thesis: Korean patrol robots are a regulatory product before a commercial one. Confidence: medium. The rules are documented in primary notices; the demand side has no priced contract yet.
Questions you should be asking
How many remote operators does one control centre need per robot? Will Cheonan publish trial results and costs? Who builds the legged hardware for ARGOS and Maum AI, and in which country?