DIC-affiliated Jane Motors Unveils First Autonomous Postal Logistics Vehicle

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Jeong-su] Jane Motors, an electric vehicle manufacturer affiliated with DIC, has unveiled a postal logistics vehicle equipped with autonomous driving capabilities. The vehicle was developed as a pilot project for the Korea Post's next-generation Cooperative Intelligent Transport System (C-ITS) and is expected to contribute to the automation of postal logistics once commercialized.

On the 22nd, DIC announced that its electric vehicle manufacturing subsidiary, Jane Motors, is exhibiting the autonomous postal logistics electric vehicle (Autopilot Truck) "Kalmato" at the Daegu Convention Center, EXCO, until the 24th.

Jane Motors (electric vehicles) formed a consortium with SML (a campus venture of Professor Lee Kyung-soo at Seoul National University, specializing in autonomous driving algorithm development), Korea Automotive Technology Institute (building autonomous driving segment maps), and Metabuild (developing and building control software). This consortium was selected as a pilot project participant for the Korea Post's C-ITS initiative.

The consortium has undergone processes including basic vehicle development, functional demonstration and verification, first-phase performance testing, and advanced function performance enhancement, and is currently in the stage of advanced autonomous driving demonstration testing.

Kalmato has proven its stability and efficiency through multiple test drives. During the second year of the automated logistics truck R&D project demonstration phase, approximately 15 test drives per month were conducted from July to November. So far, it has successfully driven about 200 km stably.

Additionally, from the 1st of this month until December 15th, it plans to conduct about 15 test drives per month over 45 days on the Sejong City C-ITS pilot project route. This route is a 16 km round trip (8 km one way) along Hannuri-daero, connecting the Sejong Special Self-Governing City Post Office's local and main offices. It passes through Hansol-dong Post Office, Areum-dong Post Office, and the Government Sejong Complex 2nd Post Office.

The truck performs postal collection tasks by automating mail transport between the local and main offices via autonomous driving. The vehicle loaded with mail departs from the parking area of the Sejong City Post Office local office, drives autonomously along the designated route, and upon arrival at the Government Complex Post Office, transfers the mail in the delivery box using RFID cards.

Park Dae-hyuk, Director of Jane Motors, stated, "Upon completing the planned test drives within this year, a total of 500 km will have been driven." He added, "The autonomous driving platform developed this time can be applied to special-purpose small delivery trucks or multi-passenger vans, contributing to Jane Motors' advancement as a company specializing in autonomous driving future vehicle conversions."