AiDin Robotics raises ₩16bn from HD Hyundai Robotics and Samsung Venture Investment

AiDin Robotics, a Korean maker of force/torque (F/T) sensors and robot hands, said on September 11, 2026 that it had raised ₩16 billion in strategic investment from HD Hyundai Robotics and Samsung Venture Investment. Under the deal it will develop two things with HD Hyundai Robotics: surface-treatment automation for shipyards and a high-payload five-finger robot hand for humanoids. It will also scale F/T sensor output to 30,000 units a year.

Why it matters: humanoid hands built for labs rarely survive heavy-industry loads. An investor from a shipbuilding group is paying to have one built for that work.

What will AiDin Robotics do with the ₩16 billion?

The company says the money goes to F/T sensor production equipment, quality-verification systems and more R&D staff. The production target is a system able to make 30,000 sensor units a year. AiDin’s sensors are capacitive. The company says that design lets it make them smaller and cheaper at high resolution, which matters for humanoids that need many sensors per robot. AiDin designs and makes the sensors in-house and writes the force-control software that runs on them.

The companies did not name the round or disclose a valuation.

Why is HD Hyundai investing in a robot-hand maker?

The joint work is aimed at shipbuilding and heavy industry. The first project is surface-treatment automation for outer hull panels at shipyards. The second is the high-payload five-finger hand, which is meant to fit humanoid robots doing heavy-industry work. The group is looking at humanoids for the same yards from another direction too: HD Hyundai is a disclosed partner of Persona AI’s shipyard welding humanoid. Shipyard grinding, finishing and welding need controlled contact force on large, uneven steel surfaces, and that is the problem F/T sensing addresses.

CEO Lee Yun-haeng said AiDin would put its self-developed technology into mass-production systems for robot components and prove its business value through a range of pilot programmes.

Who is AiDin Robotics?

AiDin was founded in 2019 by Sungkyunkwan University professor Choi Hyouk-ryeol and Lee Yun-haeng. Its sensors are in use on automotive lines and in defence and semiconductor-equipment applications, and it supplies humanoid and collaborative-robot makers. It closed a Series B in 2024 from investors including Samsung Next, POSCO Technology Investment, CJ Logistics, Korea Investment Partners, GS Ventures, Kolon Investment, DSC Investment, BNK Venture Investment and FuturePlay, and was selected for Samsung Electronics’ C-Lab Outside programme.

AiDin is already part of Korean humanoid projects. It is a member of the ORchestra consortium behind Samsung Medical Center’s humanoid surgical assistants. The new round points it at a harder setting: steel hull panels and heavy-industry loads.