[Smart Electronics Story] From Cars to Serving Robots... The Rising Technology of 'Autonomous Driving'

Editor's Note‘Agile Electronics Stories’ is a corner that keenly examines small pieces of information about electronic and mechanical products and devices. We will kindly cover hot new products frequently appearing in advertisements and news, products that have become nostalgic, as well as puzzling products, industry terms, and news with the heart of a beginner.

Example of AI-Based Partial Autonomous Driving

[Photo by Hyundai Motor Company]

Recently, autonomous vehicles have been attracting attention as futuristic cars, and reports suggest that fully autonomous driving technology, which allows the vehicle to move to the destination on its own while the driver just sits in the driver's seat, will be developed in the future. Moreover, construction equipment and serving robots equipped with autonomous driving technology are also being released. In this edition of ‘Agile Electronics Stories,’ we have prepared a time to look into autonomous driving technology.

◆From Non-Autonomous to Fully Autonomous... There Are Levels in Autonomous Driving

According to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), autonomous driving is divided into six levels from Level 0, which is non-automated, to Level 5, which is fully autonomous driving.

Levels 1 to 2 are stages where the driver directly judges the situation and intervenes in driving. However, in these stages, the system assists the driver's acceleration, deceleration, or steering. At Level 1, functions such as smart cruise control and lane-keeping assist are mainly provided, while Level 2 includes features like highway driving assist and remote smart parking assist.

From Level 3 onward, the driver intervenes only when requested by the system or intervention is excluded. At Level 3, the system understands the situation and drives; it includes functions such as low-speed driving in traffic congestion and automatic lane changing. At Level 4, the system drives under specified roads and conditions. Level 5 is designed for the system to drive on all roads and under all conditions.

◆Autonomous Driving Technology Advances Alongside 'System Semiconductors'

NVIDIA Artificial Intelligence (AI) System Semiconductor

[Photo by Mobility Insight June 2020 Issue]

The advancement of autonomous driving technology is expected to progress together with the development of system semiconductors. To implement autonomous vehicle technology, various vehicle systems, high-performance processors, cameras, LiDAR, Radar, and other sensors are installed, making system semiconductors essential. Especially for 'safety' and 'fully autonomous driving,' preventing system malfunctions and quickly collecting surrounding information and precise maps are indispensable. Therefore, the industry is focusing on research to improve the performance and durability of artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors that act as the brain of the vehicle. Furthermore, network technology to appropriately collect and transmit traffic conditions such as roads and environments sent by autonomous vehicles in operation, and the development of integrated system semiconductors to accommodate this, are also underway.

Because of this, the global automotive semiconductor market is also expected to expand. The Korea Institute for Industrial Technology Evaluation and Planning estimated that while there were only 300 semiconductors per vehicle in 2010, about 2,000 semiconductors will be required for autonomous vehicles at Level 3 or higher. Additionally, global market research firm Inkwood Research forecasts that the global automotive semiconductor market will grow by 6.76% annually and reach $6.4 billion (7.4 trillion KRW) by 2027.

◆From Electric Vehicles to Serving Robots, Applications Are Limitless... Public and Private Sectors Accelerate Autonomous Driving Investments

LG CLOi ServeBot supplied to the Department of Surgery at Seoul National University Hospital, Jongno-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The government and domestic companies are developing or supporting various autonomous driving application fields, including not only automobiles but also military vehicles, construction machinery, and convenience robots.

In the case of autonomous weapons, Hyundai Rotem demonstrated the HR-Sherpa, an autonomous unmanned vehicle, at the Korea-ASEAN Special Summit last year. The HR-Sherpa is equipped with short- and long-distance remote driving technology, dependent driving that automatically follows a security guard in front of the vehicle, and autonomous driving that patrols by autonomously exploring designated routes.

In the construction machinery sector, Hyundai Construction Equipment and KT recently completed a demonstration of a 5G-based autonomous forklift, and Doosan Infracore plans to commercialize the 'Concept-X' technology for unmanned and autonomous operation of construction machinery on-site by 2025.

The popularization of autonomous robots is also accelerating. LG Electronics has been operating the LG CLOi Guide Robot at Incheon International Airport since 2017, and from July this year, it has been supplying the LG CLOi ServeBot, an autonomous delivery robot, to domestic university hospitals, franchise restaurants, and hotels.

The government is also conducting various projects to develop autonomous driving technology and build an ecosystem. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced a strategy in June this year to support 1,000 startups in 10 major fields including smart cities and autonomous vehicles through financial support, research and development (R&D), and institutional improvements.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also announced that it plans to produce precise road maps for 14,000 km of general national roads in four regions?capital area, Gangwon area, Jeolla area, and Gyeongsang area?by reflecting 16 billion KRW in the government budget for next year. The Ministry of Science and ICT also included autonomous work tractors and autonomous shuttles in the demonstration items of the Smart Village dissemination and expansion project this year.

Moreover, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (521.6 billion KRW from 2020 to 2026) and the Ministry of Science and ICT (488 billion KRW from 2020 to 2029) plan to invest a total of 1.0096 trillion KRW in projects to develop core technologies for AI system semiconductors.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.