Hyundai inks driverless autonomous forklift deal

Hyundai Construction Equipment was the first company in Korea to develop driverless autonomous forklift trucks.

Hyundai CE announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with KT on 12th May on the joint development of the 5G technology-based solutions, for smart construction equipment and material handling.

This MOU will enable the two companies to combine their technologies, the autonomous vehicle technology of Hyundai Construction Equipment, and KT's ICT (information and communications) technologies, such as 5G communication and AI, to supply the advanced smart logistics solutions to the market.

This technological collaboration will improve the remote management and the level of control of the autonomous forklift, which will also benefit from a remote service system that is operated by an AI voice control solution, video, and augmented reality (AR).

Hyundai CE’s autonomous forklift technology is a state-of-the-art logistics solution that autonomously recognises the environment, and obstacles in the workplace, and is able to navigate through the best routes on its own, which greatly increases productivity, with enhanced navigational speed and efficient use of logistics within the workspace.

No contact

The risk of accidents in the workplace can be significantly reduced because the work is carried out along a planned path. The interest for this ‘no contact’ technology has significantly increased, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, where social-distancing is key in the workplace.

Kong Ki-young, resident of Hyundai CE, said: “A large number of officials from the automobiles and electronics companies attended our recent demonstration of autonomous forklifts held at the Eumseong Global Logistics Center in Chungbuk, and their wishes for introducing the technology demonstrated, have been pouring in. In addition to autonomous forklifts, we will supply the entire logistics solution covering the control system, charging facilities, warehouse management system (WMS), and manufacturing execution system (MES) to lead the market.”

Jeon Hong-beom, VP of KT, also said: “This cooperation will be a springboard, to advance material handling using the new technologies, such as 5G and AI, and we expect this innovation in manufacturing and logistics fields to become a reality. KT will continue to push ahead with digital transformation of Korean industries by use of our ICT capabilities.”

Meanwhile, the Hyundai Heavy Industries Group continues to work with KT to upgrade its smart factory and smart shipyard business through a combination of its robot development technology and shipbuilding technology with KT's 5G, big data, and AI technologies.