[Forum] Autonomous a2z to Present LiDAR Infrastructure System (LIS) Technology at the 2023 DIFA. Three industry experts agree that they “see the need for LiDAR sensors. LIS, if the problems can be fix > News (주)오토노머스에이투지

(From left to right) Donghyeong Seong, Singapore country manager of Autonomous a2z, Tae-hyung Kim, Head of the Smart City Transportation Research Center, Korea Transport Institute, Jae-gon Shin, Business Unit Head of Autonomous a2z, Jung-ki Lee, Head of Autonomous Driving, Korea Automobile Testing and Research Institute, and Kyung-soo Yoon, Head of Strategic Planning, Korea Intelligent Automotive Parts Promotion Institute (KIAPI) discussing Autonomous a2z’s LiDAR Infrastructure System (LIS) at the 2023 Daegu International Future Auto & Mobility Expo (DIFA) at Daegu EXCO on Thursday, October 19 | Photo by Aving News

Autonomous a2z, an autonomous driving company that develops driverless mobility platforms, held a discussion with experts about its LiDAR Infrastructure System (LIS) at the 2023 Daegu International Future Auto & Mobility Expo (DIFA) held at Daegu EXCO on Thursday, October 19.

On the afternoon of the 19th, the first day of DIFA, Autonomous a2z held a forum titled “Introduction and Evaluation of Autonomous a2z's LiDAR Infrastructure System,” with Jae-gon Shin, Business Unit Head of Autonomous a2z, as the moderator.

LIS is a platform developed by Autonomous a2z based on the technologies it has accumulated through research and testing of autonomous vehicles. LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging, and LIS utilizes the characteristics of LiDAR to provide various types of information to prevent accidents.

The forum was attended by organizations closely involved with autonomous vehicles. Jung-ki Lee, Head of Autonomous Driving,Korea Automobile Testing and Research Institute, Tae-hyung Kim, Head of the Smart City Transportation Research Center, Korea Transport Institute, Kyung-soo Yoon, Head of Strategic Planning, Korea Intelligent Automotive Parts Promotion Institute (KIAPI), and Donghyeong Seong, Singapore country manager of Autonomous a2z, were among the panelists. Prior to the forum, Mr. Seong explained LIS's entry into the Singapore market and the local application of technology, and three experts provided their opinions.

First, Tae-hyung Kim (Korea Transport Institute) sees LiDAR technology as a possible replacement or complement to the loop detectors, video detectors, and speed measurement sensors currently used in traffic management. This is because LiDAR sensors can deliver better performance and accuracy than conventional sensors.

“As LiDAR sensors are not commercially available yet, they cannot be compared to conventional sensors in terms of accuracy, cost, efficiency, and sustainability. However, I expect them to perform exceptionally well in terms of accuracy and to have many safety-related applications,” said Kim.

In particular, in terms of safety management, he claimed, “Smart Crosswalks for example, use CCTVs to detect pedestrians who are jaywalking or waiting for traffic signals and the density of pedestrians in a spatial range of only 10 to 15 meters. If LiDAR technology is used, the detection range may be expanded to 150 to 200 meters and the accuracy will be improved.”

He also stated, “If a system capable of detecting pedestrian movements and density using LiDAR sensors in a crowded area can issue warnings in advance, it would be possible to prevent tragedies similar to the recent incident in Itaewon.”

​Jae-gon Shin (3rd from the left), Head of Autonomous a2z’s Business Unit, is asking the experts about the LiDAR Infrastructure System (LIS). | Photo by Aving News​

Kyung-soo Yoon, Head of Strategic Planning at KIAPI, emphasized the challenges that the current LiDAR-based technology needs to address. LiDAR sensors offer information by perceiving the current situation and making predictions about future values based on it. However, there is a delay in transferring data.

Yoon commented, “Delays in sending and receiving data reduce the reliability of the data. It's undoubtedly a vital technology, but there is a significant amount of work to be done, including addressing safety concerns.

“However, in the LIS video released by Autonomous a2z today, I saw a potential solution to these problems,” he said. “We are aware that the company is actively developing a lot of technologies related to comprehensive autonomous driving solutions, and it appears they are extending their focus to infrastructure.”

Shin mentioned, “I understand that the Korea Intelligent Automotive Parts Promotion Institute (KIAPI) currently operates a control center and has a lot of camera feeds of intersections, traffic lights, etc. I believe the LiDAR and camera system developed by Autonomous a2z have clear advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, I think it would be beneficial to apply Autonomous a2z’s LiDAR system to the control center of the Korea Intelligent Automotive Parts Promotion Institute (KIAPI) and thoroughly evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of this technology.”

Jung-ki Lee from the Korea Automobile Testing and Research Institute commented, “The LIS system appears to be a business primarily designed to proactively prevent safety accidents while operating autonomous vehicles. It seems that this information is conveyed not only to autonomous vehicles but also to conventional vehicles. Once we have the data to confirm the probable cause of accident, we will be able to pave the way for the development of not only Autonomous a2z's technology, but also autonomous driving technology in general.”

The discussion then shifted to the practical aspects of demonstrating autonomous vehicles.

Shin remarked, “I would like to see demonstrations of autonomous driving in areas such as child protection zones.” Current traffic laws require autonomous vehicle drivers to switch to manual operation when entering a child protection zone. This also applies to vehicle demonstrations.

Lee from the Korea Automobile Testing and Research Institute pointed out, “Under the current law, the part related to autonomous driving pilot operation is subject to the standard of ‘temporary operation.’ Temporary operation has the possibility of ‘causing an accident at any time,’ and we believe it is not appropriate to implement full autonomous driving, regardless of the specific segment, at this stage when the technology is still not fully mature.”

(From left to right) Donghyeong Seong, Singapore country manager of Autonomous a2z, Tae-hyung Kim, Head of the Smart City Transportation Research Center, Korea Transport Institute, Jae-gon Shin, Business Unit Head of Autonomous a2z, Jung-ki Lee, Head of Autonomous Driving, Korea Automobile Testing and Research Institute, and Kyung-soo Yoon, Head of Strategic Planning, Korea Intelligent Automotive Parts Promotion Institute (KIAPI) discussing Autonomous a2z’s LiDAR Infrastructure System (LIS) at the 2023 Daegu International Future Auto & Mobility Expo (DIFA) at Daegu EXCO on Thursday, October 19 | Photo by Aving News

However, Lee believes that Korea cannot persist with the current system of prohibiting autonomous driving on certain sections of roads, citing foreign legal systems that impose strong penalties for violating the law in child protection zones but do not ban autonomous driving itself.

“Currently, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport and the Korea Automotive Testing and Research Institute are promoting the ‘Level 4 Performance Certification System.’ We also found that there is a need and demand for mass production of MS and SD autonomous vehicles developed by Autonomous a2z. In addition, we have been considering enabling autonomous driving in child protection zones since last year.”

Kim from the Korea Transport Institute mentioned, “The pilot operation of autonomous vehicles will take place in areas around apartments, daycare centers, and schools, where many citizens can participate. However, since autonomous driving is not feasible in child protection zones, it will need to be operated manually for approximately 70 to 80 percent of the time.”

Kim continued, “It is necessary to establish an effective collaboration system, where LIS provides information about children's movements to autonomous vehicles. If the existing laws and systems are enhanced, autonomous driving can become a technology that everyone can experience.”

Finally, Mr. Seong spoke about LIS's presence in Singapore. He stated, “Singapore has a small land mass and well-maintained roads, which is why it ranked first in the autonomous driving country index in 2020. However, the narrow roads pose challenges for cars to maneuver easily. It's a challenging environment for autonomous vehicles to operate in, and currently, only very small fleets are in operation.”

He further mentioned, “We are currently in discussions with the LTA (Land Transport Authority of Singapore) about building the LiDAR infrastructure first and deploying autonomous vehicles later.”

Meanwhile, the 2023 DIFA, which has been held for the seventh time in Daegu since 2017, covered the entire mobility industry, including eco-friendly vehicles (electric and hydrogen), motorized parts such as motors, batteries, and chargers, autonomous driving, and urban air mobility (UAM) under the theme of From the ground to the sky, a new beginning of mobility. In particular, as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport and the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, the co-host Ministries, are the two main pillars of policy promotion in preparation for the era of full autonomous driving services and UAM commercialization through 2027-2030, the exhibition showcased the technological achievements supported by the policy focus and introduced the latest policy directions.