The distance from the car in front is 'cheek', smooth driving ... passengers "I feel like I'm in the future city" > News (주)오토노머스에이투지

Riding the 'autonomous driving shuttle bus' in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do

Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, was designated as a 'city road autonomous cooperative driving demonstration site' by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport last year. For two months from the 3rd, it has been conducting a test run for the general public with 'Autonomous a2z', a company that develops autonomous driving technology. On the 2nd, the reporter took the 'autonomous driving shuttle bus'.

○ 'Safe driving' even with 8 lanes round-trip 

At around 2:20 pm, the 3rd bus stop at Lake Booyeong in Dongtan, Hwaseong, and the 2nd bus stop in Umirin. The 'autonomous driving shuttle bus', which departed from the Dongtan 4-dong Administrative Welfare Center with about 10 residents on board, entered the stop section. 

"From now on, it will operate in autonomous driving mode. Please check your seat belt again."

When the driver's announcement was over, tension and anticipation mixed in the car. The bus glided through the stop, and soon after it reached 60 km/h, the driver gently removed his hands from the steering wheel. From here, the 6.6km return through 9 stops is an autonomous driving section that is not driven by humans.

After a while, the bus entered an 8-lane general road that was crowded with cars. While changing lanes moment by moment, cars passed in front of the bus, the bus ran safely on the road without any major inconvenience. Kim Do-hoon (11, 5th grader at Cheonggye Elementary School) was excited, saying, "The car really drives even when the driver has his hands and feet off. It feels like I'm in a future city. It's amazing."

Autonomous driving shuttle buses are hard to distinguish from regular minibuses from the outside. However, three sensors (LiDAR, a radar that emits light instead of radio waves) are installed in the front and rear of the car body, and there are six cameras. By analyzing the data sent by the equipment mounted on the bus, it runs on the road, recognizing the traffic lights and surrounding vehicles. Autonomous a2z CEO Han Ji-hyeong explained, "When the bus drives according to the input precision map, the lidar and camera recognize the actual road environment information, adjust the distance to the surrounding cars, and adjust the speed."

As the stop approached, the bus slowed down and stopped exactly where it stopped. It also showed a stable appearance in the children's protection area where there is a high risk of accidents. Before entering the child protection area in front of Hwaseong Narae School, a "beep" sound was heard and the mode was changed to manual mode. Immediately, the driver grabbed the steering wheel again. It was switched manually for the safety of children. Lee Jin-soo, head of the strategy team in Hwaseong City, said, "In child protection zones, drivers have no choice but to drive themselves under the Automobile Management Act."

○ 'Level 3' conditional autonomous operation... Exhibition opened in June

The bus introduced this time was made by remodeling a 15-seater minibus, and it is at the level of 'level 3'. It is a conditional autonomous driving method that switches manually only when the driver needs it, such as in a child protection zone or in a congested section. 'Level 2' is the degree to which the driver assists in driving. In general, when an emergency situation occurs, it is considered autonomous driving from level 3, where the driver intervenes.

The bus runs 6 times a day at 1 hour intervals from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 5 days a week (Tuesday to Saturday). If you want to experience the experience, you can apply in advance by e-mail or apply at a bus stop within the operating section before boarding. Each ride takes 15 people, including 4 e-mail applicants and 11 on-site receptionists.

The city of Hwaseong will conduct a survey of citizens before and after boarding and use it as basic data for future mobility policies. Hwaseong Mayor Seo Chul-mo said, "We will do our best to foster a future-oriented mobility industry that can reduce carbon emissions and free transportation and Green New Deal to guarantee citizens' right to move." 

Hwaseong City also prepared an eco-friendly car and autonomous driving mobility exhibition to be held at the plaza in front of the Dongtan 4-dong Administrative Welfare Center until June 2. At the exhibition, △ Unmanned Solution’s autonomous driving delivery robot Rosie △ Korea Transportation Safety Authority’s Automobile Safety Research Institute’s autonomous driving artificial intelligence (AI) learning data collection vehicle △ Autonomous a2z’s urban autonomous driving car D2 △ American autonomous driving startup You can see the self-driving car ELEC E6 developed by May Mobility.

동아뉴스  이경진 기자  lkj@dongga.com