Hyundai's autonomous vehicle hits city roads

Hyundai Motor’s autonomous Genesis sedan demonstrates how to avoid another vehicle during the Future Growth Engine Challenge Parade on a street in southern Seoul, Sunday. / Yonhap

By Park Jin-hye

Hyundai Motor’s self-driving Genesis traveled along busy city roads for the first time Sunday.

The three-kilometer test-drive between northern Yeongdong Bridge and COEX in southern Seoul was a pre-event for the four-day Creative Korea 2015, which will start Thursday.

The annual exhibition, organized by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, aims to showcase the past achievements of government-led creative economy initiatives.

During the special event, named “Future Growth Engine Challenge Parade,” Science, ICT and Future Planning Minister Choi Yang-hee experienced Hyundai’s advanced autonomous driving technology.

The Genesis carried out 11 tests on streets, including driving under the speed limit, staying in the right lane, starting and stopping at traffic lights, automatic lane changing, reading hand signals and traffic jams, and making way for emergency vehicles.

Hyundai said the latest technologies were a step forward from the ones -- including Traffic Jam Assist -- it demonstrated at the Seoul Motor Show in March.

The latest technologies include Highway Driving Assist, which will be a feature of the new EQ900 to be launched next year.

“The first of its kind event has been meaningful in that Hyundai’s driverless car has been test-driven on urban streets where skyscrapers hinder the global positioning system,” a Hyundai official said.

Seven university teams, including KAIST and Seoul National University, also test-drove autonomous cars they developed.

The latest drone technologies were also demonstrated.

Sejong University, UNIST, and three local businesses joined forces to control a drone 400 kilometers away through LTE networks. Participants in Seoul controlled the drone in Marado, Jeju, delivering a parcel and sending an HD image of Marado.

A drone also photographed the autonomous driving cars in traffic.

“Due to the legal and systematic boundaries, those technologies have remained in the labs,” said a Science Ministry official.

“This event means that the self-driving car and drone technologies have been showcased to the public for the first time.”

The official also said that the tests had helped the ministry to recognize the challenges in developing the autonomous driving and drone technologies.

The ministry would work to resolve the issue by cooperating with relevant government offices, he said.

The event will take place again on the closing day of Creative Korea 2015 on Nov. 29.

Visitors will be allowed to test-drive autonomous driving cars at the venue. They can travel in the driverless Sportage SUV, developed by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, and call or park the car using a smartwatch.