▲A foldable steering wheel developed in Hyundai Mobis (source: Hyundai Mobis)

Nowadays, when interest in self-driving cars is emerging, Hyundai Mobis has developed a, “foldable steering wheel.” In the era of the 4^th Industrial Revolution, as interest in transportation has increased, new transportation methods are emerging, from electric vehicles to electric kickboards. Hyundai Mobis has developed a foldable steering wheel that can be folded at will in line with this mobility market. This steering system is a new technology that has not yet been mass-produced worldwide. Hyundai Mobis succeeded in developing the technology after two years of research.

Hyundai Mobis’ foldable steering system has various advantages. First of all, the foldable steering wheel has the dexterity to move up to 25cm back and forth. When in the autonomous driving mode, folding the steering wheel ensures a larger space, so you can create a comfortable driver’s seat and rotate the driver’s seat 180 degrees, so you can freely face the back seat. Through this, design innovation of the interior space of the vehicle will begin and a more comfortable driving environment will be formed. The electric steering system (SBW) previously developed by Hyundai Mobis is also linked to this system. The electronic steering system is a state-of-the-art system that transmits and controls steering force generated from the steering wheel to the wheel through an electronic signal. Depending on the driving situation, the handle is stabilized, and a comfortable drive is provided, even on a winding road. In addition, the mechanical connection device is removed to filter the vibration transmitted to the handle when passing through the road’s bumps and unevenness. Hyundai Mobis confirmed the best performance and quality by passing intensive tests and made efforts to apply a dual safety system. The dual safety system was applied to maintain a normal steering state, even if some devices had abnormalities.

As such, Korea is also creating many technologies in line with self-driving cars that the world is paying attention to. Recently, more than 60 domestic automakers, IT, and service platform companies gathered to develop related technologies, and the, “Korea Autonomous Driving Industry Association,” was launched. The association said it will break down the competitiveness of the self-driving industry and strengthen cooperation, with the goal of commercializing the world’s first self-driving car in 2027. In order to develop industries, it is necessary to not only develop hardware and build service infrastructure, but also to improve software technology. The association will push for policies, provide suggestions to discover regulatory improvement tasks, and discover collaborative projects between companies. Likewise, the government plans to actively communicate with the industry and expand R&D (Research and Development) and support projects to revitalize the domestic autonomous driving industry ecosystem.

Hyundai Mobis said it will continue to actively respond to the future autonomous driving mobility market, through various future technologies, and foster it as its main export item through preemptive technology proposals to global automakers. Cho Sung-hwan, CEO of Hyundai Mobis, who heads the association, said, “Creative innovation and convergence are needed to realize autonomous driving. Only when a cooperative ecosystem is systematically established can industrial competitiveness be secured by strengthening basic R&D capabilities, successful commercialization of R&D results, and accumulating application technology capabilities,” he stressed. Although it is an unfamiliar technology because self-driving cars have not yet become common, it requires a lot of effort from South Korea, as a technology that can create an innovative new world.

By So Min-young, cub-reporter  minyoung_1216@naver.com

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