LGU+ Consortium Presents UAM Future Vision at 'Drone Show Korea'

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] LG Uplus announced on the 19th that the urban air mobility (UAM) consortium ‘UAM FUTURE TEAM,’ formed with Kakao Mobility, GS Construction, and Pablo Aviation, will jointly operate the largest exhibition booth among participating companies at the ‘2023 Drone Show Korea’ held for three days from the 23rd to the 25th at BEXCO in Busan.

‘UAM FUTURE TEAM’ will set up a total exhibition booth of 320㎡ (40 booths) at this year’s Drone Show Korea. At Korea’s largest drone exhibition, UAM FUTURE TEAM plans to present the future vision of UAM services they envision and aims to secure leadership in the paradigm of next-generation urban transportation to dominate the Korean UAM market.

Aerial view of the LG Uplus booth within the UAM FUTURE TEAM booth.
[Photo by LG Uplus]

The exhibition hall consists of five spaces where visitors can experience ▲the consortium joint pavilion, ▲LG Uplus’s UAM traffic management platform, ▲Kakao Mobility’s multi-modal mobility vision, ▲GS Construction’s eco-friendly, modular, and smart vertiport vision, and ▲Pablo Aviation’s UAM integrated flight control system and drone delivery solutions.

First, at the joint pavilion, a large LED panel will screen videos depicting the future vision and blueprint of next-generation urban air mobility that UAM FUTURE TEAM aims to realize.

LG Uplus will exhibit its traffic management platform, which provides UAM operation information sharing, traffic flow management, flight plan approval, and route deviation monitoring services, in the form of augmented reality (AR) content. Visitors can vividly experience real-time communication between pilots and controllers through AR glasses. For example, AR shows the corridor path on a virtual 3D aerial view to ensure the pilot does not leave the corridor, and control images are displayed to immediately respond to adverse weather or unexpected situations.

Kakao Mobility offers a three-dimensional journey experience covering ground and air based on its complete MaaS platform ‘Kakao T.’ To provide a realistic experience of future mobility, it demonstrates the entire process of exploring user-customized integrated journeys, calling mobility services such as UAM and autonomous vehicles, and stable interconnection between flight and traffic control systems and platforms, including automatic check-in. Visitors can also experience ‘ARGOS Air,’ a digital twin used for UAM route and vertiport design, and the ‘Mobility IVI (In-Vehicle Infotainment) service for autonomous vehicles,’ which allows previewing autonomous driving routes and UAM check-in status.

GS Construction implements vertiports, vertical takeoff and landing infrastructure facilities. Visitors can directly experience UAM boarding procedures such as automatic check-in and walking-through security screening at urban airports, along with virtual reality (VR) experiences. GS Construction will also showcase the direction of vertiport construction and operation solution development.

Pablo Aviation introduces the UAM integrated flight control system built on its expertise in developing the smart mobility integrated control system (PAMNet). This system manages safe operations by analyzing risk factors through a unified system covering all aspects of UAM operations. Pablo Aviation will also introduce its business areas and self-developed drones and conduct an experiential event focused on logistics drone delivery.

LG Uplus has been participating in the ‘K-UAM Grand Challenge’ demonstration project hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport since May last year. In July last year, it signed a business agreement with Busan Metropolitan City to create a UAM ecosystem. In January this year, it collaborated with Seoul Metro to establish a complex transfer center, and in February, it partnered with the UAM aircraft startup ‘Plana’ to jointly research and develop communication-based UAM data transmission technology, preparing for early commercialization of UAM.

Yeongseo Jeon, head of LG Uplus Corporate Service Development Lab, said, “It is meaningful to showcase the blueprint of the UAM business together with companies possessing the best expertise in each field at this Drone Show Korea. As urban air mobility is regarded as a future innovative industry that will transform the paradigm of the future mobility industry, we will contribute to the early commercialization of UAM together with consortium partners.”

Sungwook Jang, head of Kakao Mobility Future Mobility Research Institute, stated, “Kakao Mobility plans to enhance the completeness of UAM commercialization by securing user service accessibility and providing a multi-modal mobility vision through advanced data analysis and platform operation know-how. In the future, by increasing operational autonomy and openness and integrating our unique routing technology, we expect to offer on-demand services as well.”

A GS Construction official said, “Vertiports are not only physical infrastructure for UAM aircraft takeoff and landing but also a core element of future urban mobility connecting ground transportation. GS Construction will continue to lead the urban air mobility business by securing capabilities in UAM infrastructure construction and operation.”

Deokwoo Jeong, Pablo Aviation’s business director, said, “We expect to realize the future of hyperconnected mobility where anyone can use aerial routes regardless of time and place together with UAM FUTURE TEAM. Through technological advancement necessary for UAM operation and control, we will take the lead in providing commercial services as envisioned this time.”

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