POSCO E&C deploys autonomous robots for post-construction cleanups

An artificial intelligence (AI)-powered autonomous cleaning robot is cleaning an underground parking area at a construction site. Courtesy of POSCO E&C

POSCO E&C said Friday it is deploying artificial intelligence (AI)-powered autonomous cleaning robots at a redevelopment project of an apartment complex in Seocho District, Seoul, to improve efficiency in construction-site maintenance and quality control.

This rollout marks a concrete step in the POSCO Group’s broader push to reorient its operations and workflows around AI. By extending its AI-driven transformation into post-construction phases, the company said it is broadening its digital strategy beyond traditional building processes.

The cleaning robot, developed in partnership with robotics company Clobot, maps spatial data and learns movement patterns to systematically clean community spaces across the residential complex.

“The implementation of autonomous cleaning robots marks a meaningful step in expanding robots' role from construction sites to the actual living spaces of residents,” Choi Jong-moon, head of POSCO E&C's R&D Center, said. “We will continue to broaden our use of AI and robotics step-by-step to lead the construction industry transition toward more intelligent and automated operations.”

The robots can call and ride elevators on their own to move between floors and automatically return to their stations to recharge or refill their water tanks. Operating around the clock without human supervision, the system not only ensures consistently high cleaning precision but also minimizes interference with daytime workers, the company said.

Through this initiative, POSCO E&C said embedding advanced robotics and AI in the pre-handover phase is a meaningful expansion of its tech innovation directly into everyday residential life.

It added that the company seeks to raise the standards of quality control in the final stage of construction and strengthen maintenance before residents move in.

Building on this case, the company plans to gradually expand its quality-control framework for post-construction cleaning across other residential development projects.

The company is introducing AI-based review systems for construction blueprints and contracts, along with quality prediction and production automation of ready-mix concrete. It has also been using drones for facade crack detection, robots for concrete surface treatment, underwater inspection drones and four-legged walking robots.