Competing in Technology by Driving Through a Virtual City
Hyundai Motor Group announced on the 27th that it held the final round of the autonomous driving competition for university students, the '2025 Autonomous Driving Challenge,' at COEX in Seoul. This is the largest autonomous driving competition in Korea, held since 2010 to expand the base of autonomous driving technology research and development at domestic universities and to nurture outstanding talent.
Hyundai Motor Group held the final round of the autonomous driving competition for university students, the "2025 Autonomous Driving Challenge," on the 27th at COEX in Seoul. (Provided by Hyundai Motor)
This year, for the first time in the competition, participating teams competed in the technology of 'Artificial Intelligence (AI) End-to-End (E2E) Autonomous Driving.' By training AI with vehicle driving data and road traffic scenario information, it can flexibly respond to new environments and complex, unpredictable situations compared to 'rule-based autonomous driving,' making it a global autonomous driving trend.
Participating teams were provided with a certain amount of development funds and the 'MORAI Simulator' platform used for autonomous vehicle development. Researchers from Hyundai Motor Company, Kia, and '42dot' supported the teams in developing their algorithms through technical assistance.
In particular, the virtual simulation environment was configured identically to 'K-City,' the autonomous driving test city in Hwaseong City where the competition is held. Since actual road, building, and signal system data were applied, the completeness of autonomous driving algorithm development played a crucial role in determining the competition results.
A total of 16 teams participated, and through preliminary rounds, the top 8 teams advanced to the finals: ▲KAIST (2 teams) ▲UNIST ▲Gachon University ▲Korea University ▲Seoul National University of Science and Technology ▲Chungbuk National University ▲Hanyang University.
In the finals, teams performed missions based on three scenarios: ▲continuous intersection driving in urban areas ▲handling special situations during urban driving ▲highway driving. Each team drove independently, and the final ranking was determined by the total score, which combined completion points and penalties.
The finals were held as a session of Hyundai Motor Group’s developer conference 'PLEOS 25,' with the announcement of results, awards, and sharing of research and development achievements taking place on the event day, the 28th.
The winning team received a prize of 30 million KRW and an opportunity to observe overseas autonomous driving trends. The second-place team was awarded 20 million KRW, and the third-place team received 5 million KRW. Award-winning teams were also granted special recruitment benefits, including exemption from document screening when applying for research positions at Hyundai Motor Company, Kia, and the 42dot autonomous driving group.
Sung Nak-seop, Executive Vice President of Research and Development Planning and Coordination at Hyundai Motor Company and Kia, said, "It is highly meaningful to implement AI end-to-end autonomous driving in line with global trends," adding, "We will provide a platform for advanced technology competitions and support various universities to focus on autonomous driving research and development."
Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor Group plans to further strengthen AI algorithm development and hold an autonomous driving competition in October where multiple teams will drive simultaneously and compete, rather than driving individually.
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