BGF Retail Co., the operator of CU convenience stores, said Thursday it had formed a business agreement with Mobinn, an in-house startup of Hyundai Motor Co., to launch a robot delivery pilot service.

After establishing a last-mile business consultative body, the two companies are expected to launch the convenience store robot delivery pilot service in September using an obstacle-overcoming self-driving robot developed by Mobinn.

The pilot service will be offered to employee apartments in the neighborhood of Hyundai’s Namyang R&D Center located in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. A neighboring CU store will prepare the deliveries.

Through the pilot service, the indoor and outdoor driving performance of the delivery robots and their obstacle-overcoming capabilities will be verified from the point of departure to arrival.

The possibility of commercializing convenience store robot delivery service on the basis of delivery orders placed through CU app will also be reviewed.

Mobinn’s obstacle-overcoming self-driving robot can move up and down apartment stairs and rough pavement, while being able to keep cargo boxes stable even when traversing obstacles. Accordingly, it is suitable for food delivery, BGF Retail said.