Company expands its U.S. operations following the establishment of its Silicon Valley branch and advances local distribution and proof-of-concept initiatives

SEOUL, South Korea — FRT ROBOTICS, a company specializing in wearable robotics, is accelerating its expansion into the North American market by strengthening its local business operations following the establishment of its Silicon Valley branch in the United States in 2025.

FRT ROBOTICS plans to supply 100 units of its passive waist-assist wearable robot, StepUp NEO, to the U.S. market and establish a logistics hub in Los Angeles, California. The company plans to integrate product storage, order management, and delivery operations at the Los Angeles hub, establishing a distribution system capable of providing a stable supply of products across the United States.

The U.S. expansion represents the next step in extending FRT ROBOTICS’ experience of supplying and operating more than 1,000 units across industrial and public-sector settings in Korea to the global market. The company has completed business discussions with local partners in six countries, including the United States, and is currently proceeding with country-specific proof-of-concept (POC) projects, product supply, and distribution network development.

As part of its U.S. market activities, FRT ROBOTICS is also conducting a POC with KISS USA, a U.S.-based cosmetics distribution company, to evaluate the applicability of StepUp NEO in logistics operations.

At KISS USA’s logistics and distribution facilities, workers will wear StepUp NEO while performing tasks such as carrying and packaging products, repetitive bending, and handling heavy loads. The POC will evaluate wearing comfort, naturalness of movement, suitability for extended use, and the potential to reduce physical strain on workers.

The on-site data and user feedback collected through the POC will be used to improve the product for U.S. industrial environments and to develop sales strategies tailored to the local market.

Following the POC, FRT ROBOTICS plans to expand product supply into industries where workers are exposed to repetitive strain on the lower back, including logistics, manufacturing, construction, distribution, agriculture, public safety, and care facilities.

Expanding StepUp NEO into a Physical AI Data Platform

FRT ROBOTICS is also conducting research to expand StepUp NEO beyond a physical assistive device into a “physical AI data platform” capable of collecting workers’ operational movements.

Because wearable robots are closely attached to and move with the human body, they are well suited for capturing a wide range of work movements and work environment data from actual industrial sites.

Going forward, FRT ROBOTICS plans to integrate sensors and software to systematically collect and analyze workers’ movements and work sequences and utilize the resulting data for humanoid robot learning.

Data accumulated from logistics, manufacturing, construction, and distribution sites will be used to develop the physical AI training data and work models needed for humanoid robots to learn and perform tasks in real-world industrial environments.

Based on data collected from industrial sites in Korea and overseas, FRT ROBOTICS plans to build databases categorized by industry and task. In the long term, the company aims to expand its business into physical AI data solutions that connect wearable robots with humanoid robots.