Brills to Open Songdo Humanoid Center in 2027

Recap

Source: 로봇신문, report of Sept. 30, 2026

According to the report, Brills, a robotics modular platform solutions company led by CEO Jeon Jin, announced on September 30 that it is launching a new humanoid center at its Songdo headquarters in Incheon. The company plans to expand its production facility to a total area of 4,654 square meters, creating a complex hub for R&D and manufacturing. This expansion includes a comprehensive solution exhibition hall and infrastructure for designing and verifying multiple robot types, including humanoids, quadrupeds, collaborative industrial robots, and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs).

The center is designed to serve as a hub for "physical AI," integrating AI data center infrastructure to advance vision-language-action (VLA) models and on-device AI control. Brills aims to build an imitation learning environment using teleoperation, where skilled workers' movements are transferred to robots. The company also plans to establish a new AI, materials, and components research institute in Daegu to strengthen its data infrastructure and core component research.

Brills targets the first half of 2027 for the center's opening, after which it intends to build a mass production system. The company describes its long-term vision as "Robots Manufacturing by Robots" (RMR), aiming to eventually complete a "Dark Factory" model where robots organically cooperate to produce other robots. CEO Jeon Jin stated that the center will be a frontline for physical AI algorithms to learn to interact with industrial sites through physical robots, and that Brills aims to become a top-tier global player following its KOSDAQ listing.

Context

The announcement comes as major global automakers and manufacturers accelerate the deployment of humanoid robots in industrial settings. The report cites examples such as Tesla's Optimus learning part transfer at its Texas Gigafactory, Figure AI's Figure 01 and 02 performing body assembly and logistics at BMW's Spartanburg plant, and BYD adopting UBTECH humanoids for process automation. Additionally, Hyundai Motor Group's American plant (HMGMA) has begun operating a dedicated training facility for Boston Dynamics' Atlas humanoid to learn part transport and sequencing tasks. Brills' move positions it within this broader industry shift toward integrating advanced AI with physical robotic bodies for real-world industrial applications.

Robot's take

Brills' strategy highlights a critical gap in the current humanoid market: the integration of high-level AI reasoning with low-level physical execution in a dedicated industrial environment. While many companies focus on the robot hardware or the AI model separately, Brills is attempting to build the "learning factory" where these two meet. The "Dark Factory" vision is ambitious but faces significant hurdles in reliability and cost-effectiveness. The success of this initiative will depend on whether the imitation learning pipeline can scale beyond controlled environments to handle the variability of real-world manufacturing. Investors and observers should watch for the center's opening in 2027 and any early data on the efficiency gains from the RMR process.