KAIST's Ultra-Fast Autonomous Vehicle to Compete as 'Asia's Representative' in Global Competition

KAIST Qualifies for CES2022 'Autonomous Driving Racing' in January Next Year
The Only Asian Country to Pass Preliminary, Competing Against European and American Cars

KAIST Indy Racing Car Crossing the Finish Line at the IAC Competition

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] A Korean research team is the only Asian country to advance to the semifinals in a car racing competition where autonomous vehicles race at speeds up to 300 km/h, competing against teams from the United States and Europe.

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced on the 9th that it will participate in the 'Autonomous Driving Racing' event, an official event of the world's largest electronics and information technology exhibition 'CES 2022,' held in Las Vegas, USA, from January 5 to 8 next year.

The race will take place on January 7 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway (IMS). The event was promoted to encourage the improvement and commercialization of autonomous driving performance based on the technical capabilities of university teams and to share the results with the public.

This competition follows the 'Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC)' held on October 23 in Indianapolis, USA. Professor Shim Hyun-chul's unmanned systems research team was one of the final four teams to complete the course out of nine teams, earning a spot to participate in CES 2022. It was the only achievement among Asian teams.

Professor Shim Hyun-chul's team successfully implemented software capable of high-speed autonomous driving at 200 km/h while complying with race signals and regulations. The competition uses the AV-21 vehicle, an IL-15 car modified for autonomous driving in Indy racing, capable of speeds up to 300 km/h.

This competition features a tournament format where two racing vehicles compete in 1:1 autonomous driving races to determine rankings. The research team is focusing on further improving the software's performance to increase speed and developing precise positioning technology that allows stable side-by-side driving with other vehicles.

Professor Shim Hyun-chul stated, "The key element of future autonomous vehicles is to travel long distances safely at high speeds alongside other cars. Assuming autonomous driving at 200 km/h from Seoul to Daejeon, it would be possible to arrive within an hour with almost no driving fatigue," adding, "Unlike high-speed rail or urban aviation, which require enormous infrastructure costs and are greatly affected by weather conditions, high-speed autonomous driving will become a new mainstay for long-distance travel suited to Korea's environment."