Gwangju City Selected for Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's 'Unmanned Autonomous Driving Technology Untact Service Demonstration Project'

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[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 14th that its project, "Development and Demonstration of Untact Service Practical Technology for Unmanned Autonomous Driving Technology," was finally selected in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's '2021 1st Automotive Sector Public Contest.'

This project, running from this year until 2024, will invest a total of 41 billion KRW including 29.9 billion KRW in national funding, and will be overseen by the Korea Automotive Technology Institute Gwangju Headquarters to discover and demonstrate the nation's first autonomous driving service.

The goal is to develop an eco-friendly autonomous shuttle platform and utilize it to develop and demonstrate unmanned store and untact healthcare services.

The unmanned store service involves installing an unmanned store system and payment management system on the autonomous shuttle to support consumer untact product purchases in locations with limited accessibility such as industrial complexes and city outskirts.

The healthcare service monitors heart rate, electroencephalogram (EEG), and eye movements to detect health abnormalities and connects and transports patients to hospitals when abnormalities occur. This service will be integrated into unmanned autonomous vehicles to provide outreach services to medically underserved groups.

The Korea Automotive Technology Institute will collaborate with 15 organizations and companies including Ibis Co., Ltd. and Revotec Co., Ltd. to develop technology aimed at solving problems arising from the development and operation of autonomous driving-based untact services, ultimately aiming to secure market leadership in the autonomous driving service sector.

The demonstration areas will include various candidate sites such as Gwangju Bitgreen Industrial Complex, Pyeongdong Industrial Complex, and Senior Health Town. Through demonstrations on general roads, the project plans to enhance the completeness of autonomous vehicle technology and untact services.

Gwangju City plans to lead the unmanned autonomous vehicle service industry by establishing infrastructure for autonomous vehicle-based service operation within the demonstration sections and building a safe driving system to ensure citizen safety.

In 2019, Gwangju opened a new horizon for unmanned autonomous driving through the 'Unmanned Low-Speed Special Vehicle Regulatory Free Zone' project, and last year laid the foundation for autonomous vehicle demonstration by being selected as an 'Autonomous Vehicle Pilot Operation Zone.'

Son Kyung-jong, Director of the AI Industry Bureau of the city, said, "As the transition to an untact society accelerates rapidly, the untact service industry has become a necessity rather than a choice. It is more important than anything else to link the early creation of business models based on autonomous vehicle technology to the revitalization of the Gwangju regional economy."

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