Kumho Tire Integrates Smart Tire Technology with Autonomous Driving Firm SUM

Strengthening Competitiveness in Future Mobility

On April 1, Kumho Tire announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with SUM, a company specializing in autonomous driving, for the convergence of smart tire and autonomous driving technologies. The agreement ceremony, held at SUM’s headquarters in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province on March 31, was attended by Youngjin Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of Research and Development at Kumho Tire, and Youngjin Hyun, CEO of SUM, among others.

At the signing ceremony held at the SUM headquarters on the 31st, Youngjin Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of Research and Development at Kumho Tire (right), and Youngjin Hyun, CEO of SUM, are taking a commemorative photo. Photo by Kumho Tire

The two companies will jointly pursue: ▲collaboration to advance technology for applying unmanned transport platforms in port and logistics complexes; ▲integration of smart tire and autonomous driving technologies for medium- and large-sized, as well as heavy-duty special vehicles; ▲operation of proof-of-concept (PoC) projects and industrial and commercial mobility testbeds; and ▲development of data-driven integrated safety and predictive systems.

Kumho Tire’s “Smart Tire System” is a technology that uses sensor modules embedded in the tire and wireless transmitters in the vehicle to measure tire pressure, temperature, wear, and dynamic load while driving. It provides drivers with real-time status information, contributing not only to accident prevention but also to improved fuel efficiency and reduced tire replacement costs.

Through this partnership, Kumho Tire plans to directly apply its smart tire system’s wear and dynamic load measurement technologies to vehicle control systems such as braking in heavy-duty special vehicles, thereby enhancing operational safety and efficiency.

SUM is a specialized company with full-stack autonomous driving technology, led by researchers from the Seoul National University Vehicle Dynamics Laboratory. The company has demonstrated both technical sophistication and business viability through its public transportation service operations.

Executive Vice President Youngjin Kim stated, “We expect to further advance our essential smart tire technology for the autonomous driving era,” adding, “We will focus our capabilities on developing technologies that lead mobility innovation and strengthen our competitiveness in the future market.”

CEO Youngjin Hyun commented, “By combining Kumho Tire’s smart tire technology with our autonomous driving system, we plan to implement data-driven driving control and safety technologies optimized not only for public transportation services but also for industrial special vehicles, and accelerate the commercialization of next-generation unmanned transport solutions.”

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