Seoul City Implements 'Sangam Autonomous Vehicle District' in Virtual Reality... Free Access to Autonomous Vehicle Simulator

Implementation of Autonomous Driving Specialized Virtual Reality World Reflecting Road, Traffic, and Weather Conditions... 'World-Class' Simulated Driving Environment
Autonomous Driving Simulator Also Open for Free Use... Available to Companies, Startups, Universities, Research Institutes to Promote Industrialization

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City, in collaboration with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is implementing digital twin technology as part of the C-ITS construction project for the autonomous vehicle pilot operation zone to create a virtual reality world of the Sanggam autonomous vehicle pilot operation zone identical to reality. Starting from the 28th, the city plans to open the autonomous vehicle simulator, which supports online simulated driving, to the private sector free of charge.

According to Seoul City on the 27th, through the free opening of this autonomous driving simulator, it plans to provide ample opportunities for online driving verification and technology development before actual operation in the Sanggam autonomous vehicle pilot operation zone, while also creating an opportunity to promote autonomous vehicle safety and industrialization.

Based on a three-dimensional high-definition road map (HD) that even depicts lane markings, the city utilized digital twin technology to implement an autonomous driving-specialized virtual reality world reflecting ▲urban environments such as buildings and street trees ▲actual roads and traffic conditions ▲protected zones such as school zones ▲weather conditions including snow and rain.

In particular, by enabling real-time linkage with real-time traffic signals collected as autonomous driving support infrastructure and hazardous situations such as pedestrians in blind spots, the city has established a world-class autonomous vehicle simulated driving environment that reflects traffic conditions changing in real time beyond virtual reality.

The city plans to open the world-class autonomous driving simulation simulator implemented with digital twin technology free of charge to universities, research institutes, startups, and overseas companies so that anyone can use it without restrictions on time and place. Until now, autonomous vehicle simulators have mainly been sold as expensive overseas products (100 million to 200 million KRW), and universities and companies related to autonomous vehicles had to build road and traffic environment data themselves for simulated driving, requiring significant costs and efforts.

The simulator opened by the city this time is not only free but also provides implementations of buildings, roads and traffic environments, and weather conditions, allowing immediate use without the cost and time required for data construction necessary for autonomous vehicle simulated driving, thus expected to act as a catalyst for the advancement of autonomous driving technology. The autonomous vehicle simulator was developed purely with domestic technology in cooperation with SK Telecom and MORAI, a specialized company in autonomous driving virtual reality construction, rather than foreign technology, and the city expects this to be an opportunity to widely promote domestic autonomous vehicle simulator technology in the global market.

The city plans to utilize the digital twin-based autonomous driving virtual reality platform not only for precise autonomous vehicle control and simulated driving but also for autonomous vehicle safety evaluation. Professor Kim Si-ho of the Department of IT Convergence Engineering at Yonsei University expressed high expectations for Seoul City's opening of the autonomous vehicle simulator, stating, “This will be a model case where the public sector provides a foundation for autonomous driving simulation experiments integrated with vast road and traffic data that is difficult for the private sector to build, to advance autonomous driving technology.” He added, “Global companies will come to Seoul and have the opportunity to freely demonstrate autonomous driving technology.”

Baek Ho, Director of Urban Transportation at Seoul City, said, “Seoul is the undisputed best autonomous driving city in Korea, opening the era of paid autonomous vehicle transportation accessible to all citizens,” and added, “Through the opening and expansion of the world-class digital twin-based autonomous vehicle simulated driving platform, we will achieve step-by-step goals to become an open autonomous driving commercialization city where global companies come for technology verification and demonstration.”