Press Han Ji-hyeong, CEO of Autonomous a2z, "In an era of paying for autonomous vehicles, we need to lead 'completely unmanned driving'”
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작성자 Autonomous a2z 조회 1,646 작성일 2021-02-01본문
Evaluation of 'natural' such as lane change
Shuttle bus, cleaning car, etc. outside the city center
Focus on public mobility, not commercial vehicles
Autonomous driving technology is not behind Google
“The era of autonomous driving cars carrying paid
passengers has come. We will realize fully unmanned driving of shuttles and
special vehicles in the city by upgrading our autonomous vehicle software (SW)
technology.”
Han Ji-hyeong (40, photo), CEO of autonomous driving
startup Autonomous a2z, said in an interview with Seoul Economic Daily on the
31st, “If you compare the paid operation of a self-driving car to a novice
driver, it is the same as just completing road training, but it is tested in
major cities across the country. The opportunity for citizens to experience autonomous
driving cars will increase through pilot projects with the company,” he said.
a2z participated as a
technology partner in the self-driving paid shuttle business operated for the
first time in Korea by Kakao Mobility near the government complex in Sejong
last December. Currently, one pilot vehicle that travels 4km around the
government building has a built-in autonomous driving software developed by
a2z. This SW acts as a brain that recognizes and judges by itself and controls
the vehicle.
CEO Han explained, “It is a core software that
analyzes information from various sensors attached to the vehicle, such as
lidar (laser image sensor) and cameras, and judges lane changes and stops.
The driver rides the Sejong autonomous driving
shuttle as it is impossible to drive unmanned on the road under the current
domestic law. Only about 100 people selected in advance can board the train by
paying a fee (1,000 won during the trial period), so the number of use is
around 10 per day. CEO Han said, “There are many reactions from passengers
saying that it is as natural as a normal vehicle driven by a human when
changing lanes, even though people do not intervene in driving unless it is an
emergency.” he added.
a2z has also developed its own technology to
accurately determine the location of a vehicle only with lidar, without using
the satellite positioning system (DGPS) of ordinary autonomous vehicles. With
this technology, autonomous driving is possible without problems even in
downtown and tunnels where satellite signals are not well received. a2z, which
possesses technologies related to autonomous driving from vehicle design to
sensor deployment and system development, was also selected as a ‘frontier
venture’ by the Korea Technology Guarantee Fund in 2019, just a year after its
founding. Currently, about 20 domestic and foreign patents have been applied
The main target of a2z, which is being tested in
Seoul, Pangyo and Daegu, is not commercial vehicles, but special vehicles such
as shuttles to and from designated sections or logistics and cleaning services.
CEO Han said, “We are focusing on public mobility necessary for smart city
construction such as shuttle buses and cleaning cars for areas vulnerable to
public transportation such as the outskirts of the city. We plan to make it
happen,” he said.
The reason why a2z, a technology start-up, made a
profit last year, two years after its founding, was thanks to CEO Han and all
of the founding members, who were researchers at automobile mass-produced
companies, and accumulated technology from an objective perspective on the
market. CEO Han, who majored in mechanical engineering at Hanyang University,
worked as an engineer at the Hyundai Motor Research Institute for 11 years
before retiring and starting a2z in 2018 with three of his colleagues.
He added, “Korea’s autonomous driving technology on the road never lags behind world-leading companies such as Google’s Waymo and Amazon’s Zoox.
서울경제 박현욱 기자 hwpark@sedaily.com