MOU signed with X-Up, Jack Nicklaus GC to begin commercialization verification

HL D&I Halla Senior Managing Director Park Jae-woo (right) poses with X-Up CEO Lee Yong-su (left) and Jack Nicklaus Golf Club General Manager Kim Hee-gyu (center). [HL D&I Halla]
HL D&I Halla Senior Managing Director Park Jae-woo (right) poses with X-Up CEO Lee Yong-su (left) and Jack Nicklaus Golf Club General Manager Kim Hee-gyu (center). [HL D&I Halla]

HL D&I Halla is moving to conduct field trials of a golf course management robot that uses drone and autonomous driving technology.

The company signed an MOU with robotics firm X-Up and Jack Nicklaus Golf Club on Tuesday for the field verification of an autonomous divot repair robot, HL D&I Halla said Friday.

The autonomous divot repair robot navigates golf course fairways on its own, identifies damaged turf — known as divots — and automatically carries out repair work. The three companies plan to verify the robot's technical performance and course management effectiveness in a real golf course environment as part of their push toward commercialization.

HL D&I Halla will contribute its proprietary drone surveying technology to generate field maps and support data analysis. X-Up will handle robot-related technical support, while Jack Nicklaus Golf Club will provide a test field for performance evaluation and verification under real-world conditions.

In October, the partners plan to hold an on-site demonstration for representatives and operations managers from major golf courses across the country, showcasing the robot's autonomous driving and divot repair capabilities on an actual fairway.

HL D&I Halla earlier unveiled the autonomous divot repair robot at CES 2026, the world's largest IT and consumer electronics exhibition, held in Las Vegas earlier this year, where it won innovation awards in two categories — Robotics and Advanced Mobility.

"Through this verification process, we plan to rigorously assess the performance and potential applications of the autonomous divot repair robot," an HL D&I Halla official said. "We will continue to identify new business opportunities by integrating a range of advanced technologies with our drone surveying and data capabilities."


quq@heraldcorp.com