South Korean operator SK Telecom plans to soon start testing autonomous vehicles on public roads. SK Telecom has received government approval to operate self-driving vehicles on roads, the Nikkei reports. SK Telecom will use autonomous vehicles based on Hyundai Motor's Genesis luxury sedan in its road tests. The company has already started testing 5G technologies for self-driving cars on tracks.
The 5G technology for wireless data transmissions is expected to generate a response time of less than 0.001 second. SK Telecom plans to use this speed to make vehicles exchange information in real time with other vehicles, as well as with road infrastructure, such as road surface and traffic signals. This information will be used to increase road safety, as well as enable vehicles to select the optimal routes for their destinations.
SK Telecom is also developing high-resolution 3D road maps, designed to help self-driving cars operate safely even in adverse weather conditions and at night, when the car's sensors are less accurate. These maps will include signage and other features down to a resolution of better than 25cm, to make cars avoid obstacles.
SK Telecom has developed its technologies for self-driving cars in cooperation with South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai, German car manufacturer BMW and the Seoul National University.
