Hyundai Mobis turns to software
A Hyundai Mobis researcher analyzes road data captured by the firm's self-driving test car M. Billy in this file photo. / Courtesy of Hyundai Mobis
By Nam Hyun-woo
Hyundai Mobis said Sunday it has invested 1.4 billion won ($1.3 million) to set up a software institute to train 400 researchers, as part of its bid to shift the firm's focus from automobile hardware to software.
According to Hyundai Motor Group, the parent company, the institute will be at its research center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, and will provide a curriculum on software for sensors and other devices used for autonomous driving vehicles.
Also included is the use of big data, video recognition, sensor control and other communication technologies.
Hyundai Mobis said these studies are unique, as they are difficult to pursue on general information technology courses. It expects to create synergy between its accumulated hardware capacity and the new software studies.
Through the institute, the company said it will increase its number of software technicians five-fold from 800 to 4,000 by 2025, while nurturing all of its researchers to become software specialists.
Alongside this, Hyundai Mobis said it will transform its laboratory in India and Vietnam data center into global research bases.
The India laboratory will add self-driving software into its existing work of designing multimedia software and analyzing data captured by Hyundai Mobis's M. Billy self-driving cars. The Vietnam data center, which opened at the end of last year, will focus on analyzing data captured by M. Billy.
Road testing of M. Billy began in April, using three cars; which will be increased to 20 by the end of next year.
Hyundai Mobis's move comes amid its bid to focus more on technology, especially in developing software for autonomous driving.
According to a McKinsey & Company report, software will account for 30 percent of total vehicle content by 2030, up from about 10 percent today, highlighting the importance of software security and reliability.
After a series of recent self-driving car accidents in the United States, the safety of autonomous driving is emerging as an important task for carmakers.
“The car has control of itself, thus it should be protected against cyberattacks. Software integrity should not be compromised by external effects, such as temperature, humidity and physical impacts,” a Hyundai Mobis official said.
“This is why not only Hyundai Mobis but also other automobile and IT companies make huge investments in software,” he said. “Since a car can make decisions only after analyzing data captured by sensors accurately, the importance of data analysis and software enabling it is increasing.”
As part of its emphasis on car software, Hyundai Mobis earlier this month hired Carsten Weiss as vice president of its in vehicle infotainment-software development unit. Weiss handled development of telematics, infotainment systems and software platforms at the German automotive technology firm Continental.