April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Hyundai Motor Group on Dec. 12 said it has joined hands with Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, to jointly develop key technologies for self-driving car, ramping up the carmaker’s efforts to commercialize driverless vehicles by 2020.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed by both sides, they agreed to develop V2X, or Vehicle-to-everything, the key technology that enables vehicles to communicate with other vehicle (V2V), infrastructure (V2I) and pedestrians (V2P). 

Hyundai will build V2X infrastructure in the city and run cars to test the technology, while the city government will provide road traffic information, and assist the automaker to construct the test field.

“We will lead the efforts to bring autonomous cars in South Korea through active business-government cooperation,” a Hyundai official said in a statement.

The V2X test field will stretch 14 kilometers between Hyundai-Kia R&D Center in Hwaseong and Bibong Toll Gate in the city. On the designated road, the V2I control tower will be erected to collect traffic and road condition information to transfer the data to vehicles, as well as seven infrared cameras at the intersections to detect moving pedestrians and vehicles.

Hyundai will initially test 50 cars, equipped with the V2X system, on the road to collect key information, including on pedestrians, traffic, road condition and speed, among others.

The project will begin in January next year, the company said. The two sides plan to expand the number of test cars and the test sites as the development gains momentum.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)