Kia launches Drive Wise sub-brand – tasked to develop driver assistance systems, autonomous cars

At the 2016 Consumer Electronic Show (CES), Kia launched its new sub-brand, Drive Wise. The new component within the Korean automaker would be responsible for developing its future Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).

The ADAS technologies developed by Drive Wise will include not just more intelligent and safer vehicles, but also form the basis of the automaker’s plan to manufacture partially-autonomous cars by 2020, with the aim to bring its fully-autonomous vehicle to market by 2030.

Tae-Won Lim, senior vice president, Central Advanced Research and Engineering Institute of Hyundai Motor Group (Kia’s parent company), said, “although the first marketable fully-autonomous car from Kia will not be available in the immediate future, the work our R&D teams are currently doing to develop our range of Drive Wise technologies is already improving on-road safety and driver assistance. The innovations presented at this year’s show demonstrate the future direction we are taking.”

Kia’s future Drive Wise technologies that are currently on display at CES are built upon the current generation of driver assistance systems. They include Highway Autonomous Driving (HAD), Urban Autonomous Driving (UAD), Preceding Vehicle Following (PVF), Emergency Stop System (ESS), Traffic Jam Assist (TJA) and Autonomous Valet Parking.

These system are designed to make driving safer and more convenient for Kia customers, be it on the highway, where the car is capable driving itself while maintaining a safe distance from the car ahead, navigating through a traffic crawl, or remotely parking the car.

In addition to these driver assistance systems, Drive Wise technologies will also facilitate communication and interaction between the driver and vehicle with innovative new Human Machine Interface (HMI) function. This is demonstrated via its I-Cockpit display that features gesture control, fingerprint sensors and smart-device connectivity.

To accelerate its development of its new Drive Wise technologies, the US state of Nevada has granted Kia a special licence to test the new technologies on public roads. This will be accomplished by using a Kia Soul EV that will act as the brand’s testbed.

The vehicle will play a role in the development of Drive Wise’s vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications system. The V2X system will form the stepping stone to bring a true fully-autonomous car to market by 2030, where V2X must be fully integrated into real-life driving environments and be able to react as a human driver can.

The V2X applies a series of sensors, radar, LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) and external cameras, to recognise the surrounding environment and all relevant obstacles. The system integrates vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) technologies as well, allowing the car to recognise, judge and control every driving scenario, obstacle or potential threat.

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