Robotics & embodied AI The company plans to take its robot-elevator software abroad from 2027, citing demand seen overseas.
More than 70 robots in South Korea now call elevators, ride them and step off at the right floor with no human help, says Hyundai Elevator (현대엘리베이터), an elevator maker based in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, and part of the Hyundai Group (현대그룹).
Its software link is in use on about 91 of its elevators. Robots can’t press call buttons, so without such a link they need a person to call the car for them or extra equipment fitted to the elevator.
The link, which Hyundai Elevator calls the Miri API, relays messages between a robot fleet's control system and the elevator's control panel. The robot sends its starting and destination floors, the software calls a car, and it signals when the door opens so the robot can board. The company first published an open API linking its elevators with robots and smart devices in March 2022 and says it runs in the cloud, needing no extra equipment, New Daily (뉴데일리) reported.
A company official gave the latest count at the International Lift Expo Korea in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, and told Korea Industry Daily (산업일보) that, with demand recently confirmed overseas, the company plans to take the service abroad from 2027. At its booth, an automated guided vehicle from Hyundai Movex (현대무벡스), a Seoul-based logistics-automation company in the Hyundai Group, called and boarded an elevator in a demonstration. A Hyundai Movex official said the platform can also work with other makers' robots.
Earlier, in March 2025, Hyundai Elevator said more than 40 delivery robots at hospitals, hotels and banks used its elevators, according to New Daily. In April 2026, Herald Economy (헤럴드경제) reported at least 50 robots at about 20 sites. At Yongin Severance Hospital (용인세브란스병원) in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, it said, 11 robots run by LG Electronics, SK Telecom and Twinny (트위니), a logistics-robot maker in Daejeon, carry blood, specimens and medical supplies on Hyundai elevators.
Rival Otis offers a similar link. It says its API works with most Otis commercial elevators made since the 1990s, and that Japan, South Korea and Singapore are at the center of the trend for elevator-riding robots.
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Editor: Ian Lamont