Katech signs self-driving R&D agreement with SwRI in US

The Korea Automotive Technology Institute (Katech) said on Tuesday that it will join hands with the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) of the United States for joint research and development (R&D) to strengthen the technological competitiveness of future cars.

Katech has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the institute to develop autonomous driving mobility technology.

The Southwest Research Institute, located in San Antonio, Texas, is a non-profit organization with about 3,000 employees studying various fields such as the space industry, transportation mobility, biotech, chemistry, and energy.

The two parties plan to work together in such areas as real-time road surface detection technology, pedestrian behavior prediction algorithm, road condition-based self-driving system, and automatic speed control technology.

"It will be an opportunity to contribute to improving the global competitiveness of the two countries' self-driving technology. We will lay the foundation for the domestic auto parts industry to advance into the overseas market through various international R&D cooperation," said Na Seung-sik, president of Katech.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com