The seat belt was fastened. When the researcher in the driver's seat entered the destination, the vehicle said "changing lanes." The left turn signal came on immediately, and the vehicle slid into the next lane on its own. It was 3 p.m., not a light-traffic hour. Even so, there was nothing frustrating. It squeezed between cars to change lanes and slipped into the left-turn lane with ease. The speed rose to 50 kph. During this time, it kept a 15–20 meter gap from the car ahead.
The vehicle boarded on the 31st was a robotaxi from Korea-based Autonomous Driving company Futurelink. It was equipped with the sixth-generation software from Pony.ai in China. Founded in 2016, Pony.ai is an Autonomous Driving company that runs fully unmanned commercial operations without safety operators in major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Its cumulative Autonomous Driving distance has surpassed 110 million km. Futurelink plans to bring in Pony.ai's seventh-generation vehicle and commercialize robotaxis.
◇ Stable driving around Gangnam on a rainy weekday afternoon
In addition to the in-car display, a large screen was mounted on the dashboard. It is used to set the driving route. Speed and surrounding environment information are shown together. Passenger screens are also installed behind the driver's and front passenger's seats. This screen captured everything from the types of vehicles in the adjacent lanes to pedestrians and cars parked on the sidewalk. The vehicle's sensors include eight cameras, six lidars and two radars on the front and rear bumpers. It recognizes 360 degrees within a 300-meter radius.
The ride quality of the Kona EV (electric vehicle) driven in autonomous mode was not bad. There was the characteristic lurch of an EV, but it felt like it handled the accelerator and brake steadily. When a vehicle in the next lane came close, it subtly edged away while staying within its lane. It is set to take evasive action when the distance narrows to about 30 cm. Throughout the drive, prompts like "changing lanes" and "entering intersection" continued, which also gave a sense of stability. A Futurelink official said, "At the commercial stage, we plan to notify only critical items such as system abnormalities."
Where the smooth drive stopped was an alley. As it entered a two-lane back road, the vehicle slowed and then came to a complete stop. It was because there was a pedestrian on the roadway. It set off again moments later. At a four-way intersection, it also recognized a person standing opposite and took time to pass. The person was standing without any intent to cross. If a person had been driving, they would have simply slowed and gone through.
Futurelink explained that on back roads where the distinction between sidewalk and roadway is not clear, the system is set to prioritize pedestrians. If a pedestrian is completely stationary, the vehicle passes as is, but if there is even slight movement or the person is standing in an ambiguous position, it takes time to predict and judge the behavior. A Futurelink official said, "Because we set the logic with safety as the top priority," adding, "The seventh-generation vehicle will improve as the number of sensors increases to 36 and learning data accumulates."
Futurelink's robotaxi uses a "hybrid learning" method. It combines a rule-based method that drives according to defined rules and an end-to-end (E2E) method in which the vehicle learns via neural networks to make decisions and control itself. On main roads, it follows a high-definition map (HD map) created by Futurelink, and on back roads, the E2E method operates. This reflects the characteristics of Korean city centers, where the signal system differs from China's and motorcycles can suddenly dart out.
◇ Zero driver interventions in 50 minutes… autonomous driving commercialization is imminent
That day, we departed from the Riviera Hotel in Gangnam District, Seoul, and drove around the greater Gangnam area for 50 minutes. Except for some back-road sections, there was little inconvenience. Even when the vehicle hesitated, it found answers on its own and moved. The researchers did not intervene even once during the drive. If commercialized at the current level, calling a car on a main road and getting off on a main road would pose no problem.
Performance is expected to improve further as data accumulated in Korea is added to the Pony.ai seventh-generation vehicle that Futurelink will bring in. The seventh-generation vehicle is the Arcfox Alpha T5 from BAIC, and the number of Autonomous Driving sensors more than doubles. Earlier, on the 28th, Futurelink signed an agreement centered on bringing 200 seventh-generation Pony.ai vehicles into Korea and launching taxi services.
Futurelink is conducting technology demonstrations by running 10 Kona Electric robotaxis daily from around 9–10 a.m. to 4–5 p.m. It has also applied to the Seoul city government for a paid transportation business license, a prerequisite for taxi operations. It plans to start the business immediately once the license is issued. The main operating hours will be afternoons, not late at night. Ten seventh-generation Pony.ai vehicles will arrive next month. Futurelink plans to go through the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's administrative certification procedures and then expand to a paid transportation business license.