▲From left, Daniel Rodriguez, director of the UC Berkeley Transportation Research Institute, and Na Seung-sik, president of the Korea Automotive Research Institute (Photo provided by Hanjayeon)

Development of a system to enhance cooperative autonomous driving and VRU safety using hybrid V2X.
Korea and the US announce plans to revitalize joint research and promote cooperation on international joint R&D projects.

The Korea Automotive Research Institute (KARI) is joining hands with the PATH Research Institute, part of the University of California, Berkeley's Transportation Research Institute (Director Daniel Rodriguez), to advance cooperative autonomous driving and VRU (Vulnerable Road User) safety technologies and strengthen research cooperation between Korea and the United States.

Na Seung-sik, the director of Hanjaeyeon, and Daniel Rodriguez, the director of the UC Berkeley Transportation Research Institute, announced on the 18th that they signed a 'Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cooperation in cooperative autonomous driving and VRU safety improvement technology' at the University of California, Berkeley, on the 17th (local time).

PATH (California Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology) was established in 1986 to develop advanced technology-based solutions for California's transportation system. It is a research organization comprised of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), UC Berkeley, private industry, and public and private research institutions.

Representative examples include innovative solutions such as cooperative autonomous vehicle safety, artificial intelligence, deep learning for vehicle recognition, traffic operation, simulation, and public transportation solutions. We are researching and developing intelligent transportation systems.

Through this MOU, Hanjaeyeon and PATH are expected to continue close cooperation to jointly develop cooperative autonomous driving and VRU safety systems and to activate joint research between Korea and the United States.

Specifically, in relation to cooperative autonomous driving and VRU safety systems, the plan is to develop a VRU safety system based on a sensor-equipped RSU equipped with hybrid V2X and infrastructure sensors, develop technology to improve road safety by linking cooperative autonomous driving systems and VRU safety systems, develop a simulation model for traffic impact assessment, and organize and participate in international joint R&D projects.

Na Seung-sik, President of Hanjayeon, said, “Collaborative autonomous driving and VRU safety enhancement technologies are at the core of smart mobility, and recently, next-generation cooperative autonomous driving systems utilizing hybrid V2X are attracting attention.” He added, “Through cooperation with PATH, we will not only commercialize related technologies, but also serve as a bridgehead for research between Korea, the U.S., academia, and industry.”