"Let's Go to Building 7" ETRI Operates Driverless 'Autonomous Shuttle'

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] Domestic researchers have succeeded in developing a driverless autonomous vehicle by equipping an electric car made by a small and medium-sized enterprise with high-performance artificial intelligence (AI) software. This marks the official start of autonomous driving technology development that requires no driver intervention.

The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) announced on the 9th that it will launch a pilot shuttle bus service circulating within the institute using unmanned autonomous driving technology applied with AI. The autonomous vehicle developed by the research team is named AutoVe. The name combines Autonomous Driving and Vehicle, symbolizing true autonomous driving technology without a driver.

AutoVe can be called from a parked state using a mobile device to start operation. After boarding, saying "Hi AutoVe, let's go to Research Building 7" will be recognized by voice and the vehicle will move to the destination. During this process, it also complies with the 25 km/h speed limit according to the safety regulations within the institute.

Boarding reservations can be made at the visitor building kiosk. The real-time location of AutoVe can also be checked via QR code. AutoVe operates on routes passing through major research buildings from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The high-performance AI algorithm applied to AutoVe processes information obtained from cameras and LiDAR sensors in real time to recognize the environment and objects and autonomously create driving routes. The institute explained that it is also equipped with an AI-based voice interaction interface technology, allowing easy control through voice commands such as 'stop' and 'avoid.'

Additionally, a transparent OLED display installed on the window inside AutoVe is equipped with AR immersive guide technology and 8K VR broadcasting technology developed by ETRI. Passengers can receive real-time vehicle information and content linked to three-dimensional space or enjoy 8K high-definition 360-degree VR broadcasts inside AutoVe.

Since May last year, ETRI has been conducting research to integrate its own technologies across various fields and obtained Korea's first temporary autonomous driving operation permit in February this year. It is particularly meaningful that the autonomous driving service was developed by integrating ETRI's own AI, 5G communication, and media content technologies without relying on foreign technologies.

For this research, ETRI built 100,000 km of domestic road traffic environment data and 200 terabytes (TB) of 14 million learning data images. The research team plans to share related data with research institutions and related companies to promote the development of Korea's AI and autonomous driving industry ecosystem.

Choi Jung-dan, head of ETRI's Intelligent Robotics Research Division, said, "We will strive to establish AutoVe as an ETRI landmark and to disseminate autonomous driving technology in various fields such as logistics, security, and defense."