{"id":17295,"date":"2026-07-26T01:06:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T20:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=17295"},"modified":"2026-07-26T01:06:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T20:06:25","slug":"south-korean-navy-tests-humanoid-robot-as-ship-helmsman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=17295","title":{"rendered":"South Korean Navy tests humanoid robot as ship helmsman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdnph.upi.com\/ph\/st\/th\/1321784930446\/2026\/i\/17849306632669\/v1.5\/South-Korean-Navy-tests-humanoid-robot-as-ship-helmsman.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The humanoid robot Pibot operates a ship\u2019s wheel Thursday at the Naval Education and Training Command\u2019s ship-handling training facility under orders from a bridge watch officer assigned to the destroyer Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong. Photo courtesy of Republic of Korea Navy&#13;\n                                            <\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><span class=\"story_dl\">July 24 (Asia Today) &#8212;<\/span> The South Korean Navy conducted its first operational experiment using a humanoid robot as a ship&#8217;s helmsman, testing whether robots could eventually perform duties now assigned to human crew members.<\/p>\n<p>The Navy said Friday that it carried out the experiment in cooperation with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.\n<\/p>\n<p>The test was intended to explore ways to deploy robots aboard naval vessels as part of the Navy&#8217;s development of a combined manned-unmanned maritime combat system.<\/p>\n<p>A bridge officer normally issues steering commands while a helmsman operates the ship&#8217;s wheel to establish and maintain the ordered course.<\/p>\n<p>Pibot, a humanoid robot under development by a KAIST research team led by professor Shim Hyun-chul, performed the helmsman&#8217;s duties during the experiment.<\/p>\n<p>The Navy and the researchers used a large language model to enable the robot to understand and execute standard ship-handling procedures.\n<\/p>\n<p>When a bridge watch officer ordered, &#8220;Left rudder 5 degrees. Steer course 330,&#8221; Pibot repeated the command and turned the wheel.<\/p>\n<p>After the simulated vessel stabilized on the ordered heading, the robot reported, &#8220;Steady on course 330.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Navy said Pibot completed the same command acknowledgment, steering and reporting procedures required of a human helmsman.<\/p>\n<p><b>Four-stage testing program planned<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The Navy divided the experiment into four stages.<\/p>\n<p>The first stage uses a land-based ship-handling simulator. The second will test the robot aboard a vessel moored in port.<\/p>\n<p>The third stage will involve daytime navigation at sea and the fourth will test the robot during extended day and nighttime operations.<\/p>\n<p>Thursday&#8217;s experiment at the Naval Education and Training Command&#8217;s ship-handling training facility was the first stage.<\/p>\n<p>The test included several simulated operating conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Pibot was required to respond to frequent close-quarters navigation situations and maintain a steady course in rough conditions in which high waves repeatedly pushed the vessel off its heading.<\/p>\n<p>The Navy said the robot followed the watch officer&#8217;s commands throughout the experiment.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers will analyze the time between receiving an order and completing it, the accuracy of the robot&#8217;s steering movements and its ease of use by naval personnel.\n<\/p>\n<p>They will use the findings to identify improvements before proceeding to the three remaining stages.<\/p>\n<p>The Navy said safety and reliability would receive particular attention before Pibot is tested during actual operations at sea.<\/p>\n<p><b>Navy considers wider role for robots<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The Navy plans to examine other duties that robots could perform aboard ships.<\/p>\n<p>It said assigning some repetitive or physically demanding work to robots could reduce sailors&#8217; workloads and help address a projected decline in the number of people available for military service because of South Korea&#8217;s shrinking population.<\/p>\n<p>Rear Adm. Kim Hyung-jun, head of the Navy&#8217;s Force Analysis, Test and Evaluation Group, said the experiment was the first step in determining whether a robot could perform ship-handling duties without error.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ship handling has traditionally been the exclusive responsibility of crew members,&#8221; Kim said. &#8220;Using the results of this experiment, the Navy will explore ways to operate robots aboard ships and respond proactively to the changing defense environment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Shim said the test provided an opportunity to evaluate whether a humanoid robot powered by physical artificial intelligence could perform the duties of a naval helmsman.<\/p>\n<p>Pibot was originally developed as a humanoid aircraft pilot capable of understanding operating manuals and manipulating cockpit controls designed for humans.\n<\/p>\n<p>The robot&#8217;s humanlike form allows it to use existing control panels, switches and steering equipment without requiring extensive modifications to the vessel.<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8212; Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>\u00a9 Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Original Korean report: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asiatoday.co.kr\/kn\/view.php?key=20260724010008847\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.asiatoday.co.kr\/kn\/view.php?key=20260724010008847<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The humanoid robot Pibot operates a ship\u2019s wheel Thursday at the Naval Education and Training Command\u2019s ship-handling training facility under orders from a bridge watch officer assigned to the destroyer Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong. Photo courtesy of Republic of Korea Navy&#13; July 24 (Asia Today) &#8212; The South Korean Navy conducted its first operational experiment using&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdnph.upi.com\/sv\/ph\/og\/i\/1321784930446\/2026\/1\/17849306632669\/v1.5\/South-Korean-Navy-tests-humanoid-robot-as-ship-helmsman.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}