[Report] SWM "Realizing Safe and Convenient Mobility through Autonomous Driving"

Automotive Electronic SW Development and Supply Company
"More Stable Revenue Possible Than Other Autonomous Vehicle Companies"

“I am not pressing either the accelerator or the brake right now.”

On the afternoon of the 30th of last month, on a road in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, a safety officer said this to a reporter riding in SWM’s autonomous vehicle No. 4 while taking their hands off the steering wheel. The No. 4, which was driving straight on its own, suddenly emitted a “beep beep” sound and slightly moved to the right. It was a warning sound that occurs when the vehicle crosses the lane. When turning right, the steering wheel moved to the right; when turning left, it moved to the left. The turn signal also automatically turned on and off repeatedly.

On the 30th of last month, SWM's autonomous vehicle No. 4 was running on a road in Anyang, Gyeonggi.

While No. 4 was making a right turn past Anyang City Hall, it recognized a person organizing roadside banners and made an emergency stop. This is called an ‘unexpected situation.’ Although it needed to merge into the left lane, No. 4 stopped for about a minute due to oncoming vehicles and then announced, “Switching to manual driving.”

Founded in 2005, SWM is a developer of autonomous driving systems. Starting with mobile phone software development, the company expanded its business to vehicle infotainment (IVI) software and autonomous driving. Its vision is to “realize safe and convenient mobility through software and artificial intelligence (AI).”

SWM is focusing on securing expertise in both software and hardware development. Among approximately 180 employees, 87% are research and development personnel. The mobility division alone has 65 members. Kim Ki-hyuk, CEO of SWM, emphasized, “Considering the size of the company’s workforce, we have one of the largest numbers of researchers next to large corporations.”

On this day, SWM operated a total of six autonomous vehicles. The regions included Anyang, as well as Gangnam and Sangam in Seoul, and Daegu. Upon entering the control room, a digital display showed how far the autonomous vehicles had traveled so far. As of the 30th of last month, the cumulative mileage of SWM’s autonomous vehicles was 308,010 km, with a total operating time of approximately 44,164 hours. The data stored amounted to 7,163 TB.

In the pilot areas of Sangam, Seoul, and Dalseong, Daegu, SWM is providing paid transportation services. In Sangam, two Carnival-modified passenger vehicles are in service, and in Dalseong, one Grandeur-modified passenger vehicle operates from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

Self-driving vehicle of SWM.

Earlier this year, SWM developed the Armstrong 5th generation (AP-500). It enhanced real-time synchronization performance among heterogeneous (various and multiple) sensors based on the Global Positioning System (GPS). Based on this, next year, the company plans to launch a zone-based paid transportation service in the Gangnam pilot district of Seoul. The Armstrong 5th generation can also be applied to various business sectors. Expansion areas include autonomous taxi passenger transport for small passenger cars, autonomous passenger and cargo ships, catenary-free trams in urban areas, and autonomous yachts and boats.

CEO Kim cited SWM’s greatest strength as “having a deep understanding of automobile companies.” This is because the company has been developing and supplying automotive electronic software since 2010. Kim said, “For 14 years, automobile companies have been our customers, so we can supply technology exactly as they want. Since we deliver technology to existing customers, we are confident that we can generate more stable sales than any other autonomous vehicle company.”