Korea Herald staff reporter Cho Chung-un takes her hands off Nexo’s steering wheel while cruising at 110km per hour on the highway drive-assist system, a semiautonomous technology that the hydrogen vehicle offers. THE KOREA HERALD
EXPERTS on self-driving cars from the US, the UK, Germany and Japan gathered in Seoul on Monday to urge for swift establishment of global standards for advanced self-driving cars in order for related technologies to further advance, according to the South Korean government on Monday.
An international conference on standardisation of self-driving cars, hosted by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards, was attended by around 200 experts, who shared information and knowledge on technologies, standards, laws and infrastructure of self-driving cars, and discussed the necessity of international standardisation of technologies.
The conference kicked off with a keynote speech from Hyundai Motor Company executive Ryu Nam-gyu, who presented South Korea’s technological development of self-driving cars and highlighted the importance of setting standards for advanced self-driving cars.
“It is important to have global standardisation for [automakers] to expand markets through mobility services and for the safety of self-driving cars,” Ryu said.
Standardisation of self-driving cars is being developed by ISO/TC 204, a technical committee of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which is responsible for overall system aspects and infrastructure aspects of intelligent transport systems.
Most of the standards for the first and second stages of self-driving cars – also called advanced driver assistance systems – have already been developed. Standards for the third and fourth stages are still being developed.
The experts who gathered in Seoul shared each of their nation’s efforts in standardisation to boost the commercialisation of high-level self-driving cars. Self-driving cars on highways and fallback performances were mainly discussed, according to an official.
Ryu’s speech was followed by Honda automobile research and development centre’s Satoshi Hiyama, who presented Japan’s self-driving system strategies, including its cross-ministerial strategic innovation promotion programme.
Japan has set national goals to reduce the number of annual traffic fatalities to 2,500 by next year with the development of automated driving systems, including next-generation urban transportation infrastructure.
US ISO representative Steve Shladover talked about the current situation of US self-driving cars and prospects.
UK and German representatives Siddartha Khastgir and Thorsten Leonhardt also shared about the current situation of self-driving cars in their nations.
Korean Agency for Technology and Standards chief Lee Seung-woo said: “Self-driving cars are an area that urgently needs global cooperation. We hope this conference can become a stepping stone to accelerate global cooperation in the sector.”
Hyundai Motor Company plans to build mobility service business models, including the operation of self-driving robot taxis by 2021, in cooperation with global companies. THE KOREA HERALD/ANN
