Rainbow Robotics’ collaborative robots are slated for launch in the second half of 2022. (Rainbow Robotics)

South Korean robotics maker Rainbow Robotics said Monday that it recorded 3.6 billion won ($2.8 million) in sales in the first quarter this year, up 182 percent on-year. 

The Korean robot maker said the local market’s demand for collaborative robots that work with humans has pulled up its sales, as well as increased exports of its device that tracks certain targets with accuracy to the global market. Its operating profit came to 600 million won. 

Collaborative robots assist humans or replace the roles of humans in terms of conducting simple and repetitive tasks. They can also perform work in areas that are difficult for people to reach or operate in. 

Rainbow Robotics, founded in 2011 by researchers at the KAIST humanoid robot center, has been producing various robot platforms including collaborative robots, mobile manipulators that move autonomously for industrial use, medical robots and humanoid robots that walk on two or four legs. It made its market debut on the tech-heavy Kosdaq in 2021 as a robot platform manufacturing firm with its own research and development technology. 

According to Hyundai Motor Securities, global sales of collaborative robots rose 90.5 percent to 126,000 units in 2020, about a 10-fold jump in the rate of growth compared to a year prior. Market and consumer data tracker Statista gave its outlook that the global collaborative robot market would grow to be worth $1.1 billion by 2025. As of 2020, the market was around $590 million in size. 

With growing market demand, Rainbow Robotics said it plans to launch two other types of collaborative robots in the second half of this year. For optimized use of robots, the company also offers self-produced software programs that can be downloaded on Android-based tablets or PCs for robot operation.

“Unlike other firms that import robot parts from a third party and perform assembly, Rainbow Robotics has internalized the robot components making and related technology to directly manufacture robots,” said an official from Rainbow Robotics. 

The company currently sells four types of collaborative robots under the name RB series. Some of them have been actively used for welding or grinding, as well as in the logistics process, according to the firm.

“We will launch collaborative robots that can be used in the sector of logistics such as palletizing, stacking the load, cargo delivery or automated assembly for IT, electronics, bio and service businesses,” the official added.