Hyundai Motor Group and solid-state lidar company SOSLAB have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop sensors for mobile robots.
SOSLAB (Smart Optical Sensors Lab) is developing solid-state lidar sensors for industrial and automotive use. SOSLAB said compared to the conventional mechanical lidars its sensors have strengths in size, weight, power consumption, price, and durability. The Korean company supplies high-resolution 2D/3D lidar for the industrial robot and port security markets.
This latest partnership aims to develop a high-resolution 3D lidar for autonomous driving performance optimisation of Hyundai Motor Group’s Mobile Eccentric Droid (MobED) unveiled in December last year. Hyundai Motor Group and SOSLAB will cooperate on the goal over the next two years.
For the joint development of lidar for mobile robots, Hyundai Motor Group will provide hardware design and software algorithms with its robotics technologies, and SOSLAB will offer advanced 3D high-resolution lidar design technologies and its know-how on software technology.
Through this collaboration, Hyundai Motor Group aims to develop an autonomous-driving mobile robot that can move more stably on irregular surfaces and in between obstacles by expanding the short-distance recognition range while reducing the lidar sensor size.
“With 3D lidar optimised to Hyundai Motor Group’s mobile robot, we will take a step closer to commercialising the compact mobility platform of autonomous driving which can drive freely in complicated indoor and outdoor spaces,” said Dong Jin Hyun, Head of Hyundai Motor Group Robotics Lab.
“By doing so, we will be able to introduce a range of new businesses and services including delivery service and personal mobility.”
