KAIST, Hyundai sign agreement for high-speed self-driving research

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) announced that it would embark on research into high-speed autonomous driving technology, thanks to funding from Hyundai Motor Co.

The partnership was formalized at Hotel Rolling Hills in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday, with a signing ceremony attended by a research team led by KAIST Professor Shim Hyeon-cheol from the School of Electrical Engineering and representatives from Hyundai Motor.

The agreement outlines that Hyundai will provide financial support to KAIST's research endeavors, while the latter will share its expertise and experience relating to high-speed autonomous driving technology and cooperate with the promotion of the project.

KAIST's autonomous driving research program, which began in 2009, has already made a name for itself in the field of unmanned systems. The team has won several accolades, including the 2021 Hyundai Motor Group Autonomous Driving Challenge and consecutive championship titles in the Artificial Intelligence Grand Challenge hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT in the control intelligence category in 2019 and 2020.

In 2021, the team participated in the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC), a high-speed self-driving vehicle racing competition that runs at speeds of over 300 km per hour. They were the only Asian team in the competition and managed to secure fourth place.

Additionally, the team participated in the CES Self-driving Challenge for two years in a row, where they were the only Asian team. They competed against research teams from racing powerhouses such as Germany and Italy and were recognized for their technological prowess.

In response to the partnership with Hyundai, Prof. Shim expressed his gratitude for the support, noting that the company has continuously held domestic self-driving competitions since 2010 and supported research by various universities to expand the domestic self-driving technology base.

"It is an honor to be sponsored by Hyundai Motor, and we look forward to collaborating closely with the company on this important research," he added.

Write to Hae-Sung Lee at ihs@hankyung.com