▲KERI's Lee Ji-young, head of the Air Mobility Propulsion Research Team, is holding a cooperation meeting with the Unmanned Exploration Laboratory (UEL) for the development of rover technology.

Unmanned Exploration Research Institute Technology Transfer and Joint Research

The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) is transferring key technologies for the domestic production of electric powertrain technology for the lunar exploration 'rover', and expectations are high that the 'rover' will quickly become technologically independent in the future.

The Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute announced on the 31st that it has transferred electric powertrain technology to the Unmanned Exploration Laboratory (UEL), the only 'rover' manufacturing company in Korea.

A rover is a manned or unmanned vehicle that roams the surface of the moon or a planet to analyze various environmental conditions (terrain, temperature, etc.) and perform resource exploration missions.

The domestic space development roadmap includes plans to develop a Korean lunar exploration lander by 2032, and a 'rover' is being considered as one of the payloads to carry out various scientific missions.

On the other hand, the rover's core components, called 'electric powertrains', are still dependent on imports, so technological independence is urgent.

The electric powertrain refers to the devices that electrically transmit power from the battery to the wheels, and is composed of a battery-converter-inverter-motor-controller, etc.

Aerospace MountainDomestic production of electric powertrains is essential for industrial development.

The price of core components for the rover is more than 10 times higher than that of industrial components, the procurement schedule is at least 6 months, and some items cannot be purchased due to national regulations.

In particular, if the specifications or design of the rover are urgently changed, there may be a purchase risk due to a shortage of suitable parts.

While many efforts are being made to achieve this, in Korea, the KERI Aviation Mobility Propulsion Research Team possesses unrivaled technological capabilities related to electric powertrains.

Since the 2000s, KERI has been developing a number of technologies related to motors and generators for land and sea mobility, and has further developed these technologies to enter the electric powertrain field for drones and urban air traffic (UAM) since 2018. It currently holds the largest number and highest level of SCIE-level papers (19 papers), registered patents (26 cases), technology transfer (KRW 840 million), and external awards (Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Award, etc.) in the related fields.

Recently, the scope has been expanded to space by signing a technology transfer contract for the 'electric powertrain drive module (motor, inverter)' that goes into the rover of UEL, the only rover manufacturer in Korea and Korea's representative at the G20 Space Summit.

The two organizations are continuing joint research even after the technology transfer, and their goal is to produce the rover's core components to an international standard through various industry-academia-research collaborations.

KERI Aviation Mobility Propulsion Research Team Leader Lee Ji-young said, “Our team has received a lot of attention in the domestic aviation mobility field through our lightweight and thermally stable electric powertrain technology, and we were able to become UEL’s cooperative partner in recognition of our strong will and efforts to advance into space.” He added, “UEL is developing the system for the lunar exploration rover, and KERI is developing core components. He revealed his plan, saying, “KERI has a well-established work division system and will cooperate in securing large-scale government projects.”

Meanwhile, KERI is a government-funded research institute under the National Research Council of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Science and ICT.

▲KERI electric powertrain to be installed on the lunar exploration rover