Hancom Lifecare said on Wednesday it signed a strategic business agreement with French unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) company Shark Robotics for the South Korean market.

Hancom Lifecare plans to use the partnership to expand beyond its existing safety equipment manufacturing capabilities into advanced robot-based intelligent safety solutions.

Shark Robotics' flagship model, COLOSSUS, is widely known as the "robot that saved the cathedral" after it was deployed for about 10 hours during the 2019 fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris to prevent the cathedral from collapsing. COLOSSUS is a medium-to-large 500 kg-class robot. It has water discharge capacity of up to 3,800 litres per minute and towing power of more than 1 ton, making it useful at fire sites where firefighters have difficulty entering.

Rhyno Protect, which Hancom Lifecare will also introduce, is a 200 kg-class medium-sized robot that can manoeuvre agilely in narrow spaces and is suitable for responding to fires at industrial facilities and in urban areas.

Both models use a modular system, allowing them to be equipped according to on-site conditions with remotely controlled unmanned water cannons, smoke exhaust fans, stretchers for transporting casualties and CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) reconnaissance sensors.

Hancom Lifecare said its strategy is to build a total service system covering everything from robot introduction consulting to customised solution provision and professional after-sales service, and to take the lead in South Korea's unmanned firefighting robot market.

Chief Executive Sun-young Kim (김선영) said, "The combination of safety technology that protects people and advanced robot technology will be an innovative turning point for Hancom Lifecare as it evolves into a technology-driven safety solutions company." She added, "Starting with this entry into the unmanned firefighting robot business, we will secure differentiated technological competitiveness and expand our business across the board to strengthen mid- to long-term growth momentum."