Zero shuttle is an next generation autonomous bus. In Pangyo Techno Valley, Gyeonggi, Korea the prototype of the autonomous vehicle is being operated.
The Advanced Institute of
Convergence Technology, focused on autonomous driving technology research for
the public sector, has taken a step further. In 2018, the Zero Shuttle became Korea’s
first unmanned autonomous vehicle.
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| Zero Shuttle operating in the Pangyo Techono Valley ⓒ차세대융합기술연구원 |
What is Zero Shuttle?
The name “Zero Shuttle” was
chosen to reflect the goal of creating a city in which regulations, accident
risks, missing children, environmental pollution, and carbon emissions are
eliminated (reduced to “zero). The Zero Shuttle runs from Pangyo Zero City to
Pangyo Station – without a driver.
With the advent of the Fourth Industrial
Revolution, eco-friendly electric vehicles and autonomous driving technologies
are becoming a reality. The Zero Shuttle is undergoing daily development and
advancement thanks to the researchers at the Gyeonggi Autonomous Driving
Center.
How does Zero Shuttle work?
The Zero Shuttle works
differently from normal cars – it doesn’t have a steering wheel, an accelerator
or brake pedal like a typical car has. Instead, traffic signal, GPS and driving
safety information is transmitted wirelessly to and from an integrated control
center. This technology is referred to as Vehicle Communication Technology
(V2X) and is essential for safe autonomous driving. Not only that, the Zero
Shuttle is equipped with state-of-the-art sensors, such as LiDAR, 2D LiDAR, and
cameras with multiple channels to recognize people, objects, and lanes. It
reads not only traffic information, but also the situation around it.
As the Zero Shuttle runs on the
road, it is able to learn through the data obtained through day-to-day
operation. From March 2018, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
granted temporary service permission to the Zero Shuttle, and a traffic signal
system was also augmented by replacing 12 signal controllers in various
intersections along the route.
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| Features of Zero Shuttle ⓒ차세대융합기술연구원 |
Any future plans?
Safety is also a top priority
for the Zero Shuttle so experimentation on real roads will continue as well as
preparations to address any problems that may arise in future. Added functions
for safety and speed will also be added. The system may not be fully developed yet,
but efforts are being made for public convenience. As one of Korea’s core technologies,
the Zero Shuttle will be continuously developed and may one day transform the
world of transportation.
CES 2020 Showcase
During the Consumer Electronics
Show (CES) in 2020, more than 180,000 participants and a total of 4,400
companies participated in showcasing advanced technologies and products. The
main topics covered at CES 2020 included 5G, IoT, blockchain, AI, automobility,
robotics, AR/VR, healthcare and food technologies.
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| Crowed exhibition hall of CES2020 ⓒCTA |
Gyeonggi-do and the Advanced
Institute of Convergence Technology participated in this event. They also
joined in the launching of the Gyeonggi Autonomous Driving Center in June 2019 so
as to create an industrial ecosystem in the field of autonomous, and were able
to showcase the Zero Shuttle there.
The Zero Shuttle has attracted
a lot of attention from many leading companies of the world, receiving invitations
to conferences from associations and companies in various countries. In
addition, the Gyeonggi Autonomous Driving Center has also attracted the
attention of many overseas visitors by introducing a single-passenger electric
mobility “Zero PM” that can move between indoors and outdoors via autonomous
driving as a follow-up model of the Zero Shuttle.
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| single-passenger electric mobility Zero PM ⓒ차세대융합기술연구원 |
There were also 8 other companies
that exhibited at the Eureka Part and General Hall of CES 2020 along with the Advanced
Institute of Convergence Technology.
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Autonomous
driving simulation software (Morai)
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Autonomous
driving precision map and spatial information software (MobilTech)
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Deep
learning-based driving situation recognition model (AMO)
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V2X
Vehicle and Base Station System (Watiz)
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Autonomous
driving sensors (BitSensing)
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Zero
Mobility and Zero Shuttle (Gyeonggi Autonomous Driving Center)
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Autonomous
driving LiDAR sensor (SOS Lab)
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LiDAR
software solutions (Seoul Robotics)
After the event ended, there
were also review events held to allow further discussions of happenings during
CES 2020. In Korea, these review conferences were held in various regions for
the purpose of revisiting key technology trends covered at CES 2020.
Of particular note, the CES
2020 Review Conference in Seongnam was held at the Seongnam Keen Tower Wars
Auditorium. Seongnam City Ventures, start-ups, SMEs, and approximately 370
experts gathered to discuss and review interest in Korea during CES 2020.
Lee Jin-sik, CEO of Mobilio, a
company specializing in the maintenance of smart factory facilities, shared
that he was “impressed that everything was being robotized”. He noted, “There
were people wearing robot-like attire like Iron Man, and vehicles could recognize
people and objects through numerous sensors. Through sensor recognition,
precise measurements were made possible.”
In the Fourth Industrial Revolution,
robots serve a primary role. “Each machine is intelligent and robotized based
on AI to communicate with each other,” said Lee. “The smart factory also
transmits information through data such as temperature, humidity and dust in
real time and they learn through artificial intelligence.
The power to read trends is
extremely important. Different countries around the world are preparing for the
Fourth Industrial Revolution, but if they do not follow each other’s trends and
interact with each other, development will be hindered. In that sense, the
meaning of the annual CES is amplified in this – the prospect that the future
of IT in Korea will be bright, seeing people gathered at review conferences to
further discuss and learn in order not to miss global trends.
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