Diden Robotics, a South Korean startup spun out of KAIST's HUBO humanoid robotics lab, showed off its Spider robot at RoboWorld 2026 in Goyang on November 4, a quadruped that climbs vertical steel walls using switchable magnetic feet to weld and inspect the inside of ships. The event, held at KINTEX, drew 402 exhibitor companies from 17 countries, according to coverage by The Korea Economic Daily (fnnews).
The Spider can clear obstacles up to 40 centimeters high and carry 30 kilograms of equipment, from manipulator arms to inspection sensors, while traversing floors, walls and ceilings inside steel ship blocks, environments that are cramped, dark and dangerous for human workers to climb.
How does a robot stick to a wall?
The Spider uses what's called electromagnetic permanent magnet (EPM) technology on each of its four feet. Unlike a simple electromagnet, which needs continuous power to hold its grip, an EPM uses a small pulse of electric current to flip the magnetic state on or off, then holds that state without drawing more power until it's switched again. That matters for a climbing robot: it can stand locked onto a steel ceiling indefinitely without burning battery, and only spends energy during the step itself.
Navigation works by matching onboard 3D scans against the ship's CAD drawings, letting the robot locate itself precisely inside a hull without GPS, which doesn't penetrate steel ship interiors anyway. Diden trained the robot's walking behavior in simulated shipyard environments before sending it into real hulls, a standard approach in robotics known as sim-to-real transfer that lets a robot rack up far more practice steps in software than would be practical or safe on an actual ship.
Why does shipbuilding need a climbing robot?
Welding and inspecting the interior of a ship block means working at odd angles, often upside-down or sideways, inside spaces too tight or too hazardous for comfortable human access. South Korea's shipbuilding industry, among the world's largest, has pushed hard into robotics and automation as a way to offset a shrinking skilled welding workforce and reduce injury rates from the awkward, physically demanding positions the job requires.
Diden also showed the Walker, a two-legged variant built for narrower ship spaces that the company says is scheduled to begin mass production in December 2026, with full deliveries planned through 2027. The Spider and Walker shared the RoboWorld floor with a wide range of other physical AI demonstrations, including a Unitree humanoid playing table tennis and a Rainbow Robotics quadruped built for industrial inspection, underscoring how South Korean robotics firms are increasingly targeting narrow, dirty, dangerous industrial jobs rather than general-purpose humanoids alone.