From Autonomous Driving A to Z... A technology company that dreams of exporting ‘smart city’ > News (주)오토노머스에이투지

“60,049 km, 7.9 driver interventions per 100 km”

As of the 5th, this number indicates the distance traveled by autonomous driving solution developed by Autonomous a2z, and the number of driver interventions in unexpected situations. Han Ji-hyeong (40), CEO of Autonomous a2z, put this at the beginning of the company's website. It is another expression of confidence in technology that famous American technology companies use to show off their technology to the outside world.

CEO Han, who met at the headquarters of Segye Ilbo in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 12th, was proud that Autonomous a2z's autonomous driving technology has already reached the world level. Since December last year, the company has been operating paid transportation in the concept of autonomous driving shuttles with Kakao Mobility in Sejong City for the first time in Korea. It is a service that allows passengers who have been selected in advance for three boarding and alighting points in a section of about 4 km near the Government Complex Sejong to move on and get on.

He said, “If you look at the cumulative distance of autonomous driving of major companies announced in the United States last year, we too have risen to the global level by ranking 6th in the world. feel it,” he said. The goal is to exceed the accumulated mileage of 100,000 km by the end of this year by producing 10 additional autonomous vehicles this year, which are currently in their 10s.

After graduating from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Hanyang University, CEO Han, from Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do, joined Hyundai Motor Company in 2007 and took charge of mass production of engines and transmissions for 7 years. Then, in 2014, he moved to the central research center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi-do, and joined the development of autonomous vehicles, opening his eyes to a new world. In 2016, the Kia Soul electric car, which was exhibited at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the U.S., took charge of the test drive project for the world press, and participated in the CES the following year. During the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, President Moon Jae-in prepared a test drive event for the NEXO autonomous driving car.

In the process, CEO Han will receive a strong impression like a god in the future car field. “After going to the LA Auto Show in 2017, I couldn’t sleep for a year,” he said. The desire to jump in here too and try something rose from the depths of my heart,” he recalled. However, the reality of his life as a person was not easy either. He said, “The shaman says that when he gets sent down, his body hurts, but I felt like I was wearing clothes that didn’t fit me at work. But at the time, it was not easy to make a decision because I was the only earner and my child was in kindergarten.”

As his worries deepened, an opportunity came to him. Yoo Byung-yong, a professor at Kyungil University (Director of Autonomous Driving Convergence Technology Research Center and current director of Autonomous a2z), who worked with Hyundai Motor Company and went to university first, received a call. “Since it is a small school in a rural area, it was said that to attract students, it was made into a leading university for start-ups and created a venture within the school. In particular, there are many auto parts companies in Daegu and Gyeongbuk, so it was a proposal to set up a research institute at the school and develop autonomous driving car technology,” said CEO Han.

He said, “At first, as an adjunct professor, I started with the idea of developing technology at the level of an industry-related project with local parts makers. In July 2018, he founded the company as an on-campus venture with the meaning of doing everything from A to Z of autonomous driving. In addition, Professor Oh Young-cheol (company CTO), who was in charge of developing lidar signal processing and precision positioning logic from Hyundai Motor Company, and Researcher Myung-sun Huh, who develops logic architecture design and situation judgment control logic, will participate in the company.

In the first year of its establishment, the self-driving car convergence technology research center at Kyungil University made an autonomous driving prototype car. He said, “It was my first project to make a two-seater mini electric car by remodeling a golf cart, and I stayed at school for about four months and stayed up all night, only hanging on here. It was successful,” he said. It was an achievement five months after it was founded as an intra-school venture in July of that year.

At first, there were voices of opposition and concern even within the school. He said, “At that time, there were many opposing opinions about how local universities would do things that even the leading schools in the country could not do, but President Jeong Hyeon-tae of Kyungil University gave full support.

When an autonomous driving license was granted under the name of Kyungil University, the academic community was also surprised. At that time, only four leading universities in Korea, KAIST, Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Hanyang University, had licenses for autonomous vehicles. Most of these schools were the result of years of investment, but when a small local university suddenly produced results, rumors spread in the industry and many people came to the school.

CEO Han said, “Other companies have made self-driving cars that support basic vehicle technology like Genesis. Last year, they participated in the autonomous driving competition hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy together with Kyungil University students and took the 6th place in the country and 1st place in Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do.

There were difficulties for him, who ran on the autobahn of growth without hesitation. CEO Han said, “Recently, as labor costs have risen in the game industry, it has become more difficult for startups to recruit people. I was hired based on it,” he said.

In addition, Kyungil University selected two field trainees every year to gain experience at the company. CEO Han said, “Recently, there are many cases where young people join startups that have a greater chance of success than large corporations, so they can settle down and grow together with stock options later.”

The strength of Autonomous a2z lies in the practical skills accumulated in the field. During the interview, on the subject of technology, the voice of the CEO was stronger. He said, “We implement ‘recognition, judgment, and control,’ the core of autonomous driving, with our own algorithms without using an external open platform. It is not a study for research, but a natural result created by people who started working with technology for mass production as a background.” In addition, the company kept its technology development philosophy by minimizing the initial external investment. CEO Han said, “So far, we have received orders for 41 research services worth 12 billion won.

The era of autonomous driving that he sees is not a distant future. He said, “It is a difficult field for startups to challenge in developing automobile-based autonomous driving for automakers,” he said. said. "Simply put, it's competition in different occupations, like cars and tractors," he explains. CEO Han predicted that autonomous driving of purpose-based mobility (PBV) would be commercialized within five years. He predicted, “Autonomous driving of general vehicles will be fully used after 2030, but PBV will have both technology and systems in 2027.”

For autonomous driving, the support of laws and institutions is as important as technological development. He said, “Even if self-driving cars are available now, they are not perfect for laws or insurance, so it is difficult to use them in practice.” We are testing it all over the country,” he said. “Autonomous driving is not achieved by technology alone, but infrastructure and control support are required,” he said.

Autonomous a2z is currently testing a fully unmanned vacuum cleaner in Gwangju. “The first fully autonomous driving test in Korea has been in progress since last month,” he explained. Various tests are being carried out in each region according to the current purpose. He said, “Each region has different road characteristics. For example, there are many roundabouts in the new city and many narrow streets in the old city,” he said. “We develop vehicles according to these characteristics.

The company is currently actively participating in the nationwide smart city project. “The government wants to export the city to the Middle East and Southeast Asia by creating smart cities in Sejong and Busan and combining delivery, shuttle, and unmanned patrol using autonomous driving solutions,” he said. The era of export will soon open,” he said. The company will participate in the Busan smart city project as an autonomous driving solution provider.

He also left this advice to founders dreaming of startups. He said, “Autonomous driving will not come to the private sector any sooner than expected.” He said, “There are many companies that jumped in and disappeared without being able to hold on because they said that the market will open around 2020 when the era of self-driving sensors is not available.” He said, "Don't jump in just looking at the blueprints in the media, and you can survive only when you start with one core technology completed."

세계일보 조병욱 기자 brightw@segye.com