Hyundai Engineering announced that its exterior wall painting robot, jointly developed with specialized coating company J2E&C, has been designated as Construction New Technology No. 1042 by South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The Construction New Technology certification is awarded to technologies that demonstrate novelty, technological advancement and field applicability, either as domestically developed innovations or improved adaptations of overseas technologies.
The newly certified robot is designed to replace traditional gondola-based high-rise exterior painting methods by applying an unmanned, remote-controlled system. Operators can control the equipment from the ground or rooftop, significantly reducing the risk of falls and other safety accidents.
The robot is equipped with a precision posture control function and a paint dispersion prevention system. It automatically corrects excessive tilting through horizontal control sensors and incorporates multiple safety mechanisms, including high-durability wires and altitude-detection-based automatic stop functions. A dual sub-fan structure helps maintain stability under wind conditions, and the dedicated support frame has undergone structural safety verification.
Environmental performance has also been enhanced. The system features a paint dispersion prevention case, dust collection filters and dual dust collection fans as standard specifications. A triple-filter structure minimizes external emissions. In addition, a newly developed low-dispersion, non-dilution coating reduces paint scattering by more than 90 percent compared to conventional water-based paints.
In terms of construction efficiency, the robot utilizes a continuous vertical spray system and multi-nozzle technology to enable uninterrupted coating of large surface areas. Field demonstrations showed that the robot can complete work at roughly twice the speed of conventional manual operations, contributing to shorter project timelines and more consistent quality.
The technology was invited to a construction automation robot demonstration hosted by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation in 2023 and received an Innovation Award at the Ministry of Land’s 2024 Smart Construction Challenge.
A Hyundai Engineering official said the company has enhanced on-site safety by replacing high-risk exterior painting tasks with robotic systems, adding that it will continue developing smart construction technologies that improve safety, quality and productivity simultaneously.
