Hyundai's Ioniq 5s race in driverless duel between universities

An autonomous race showcasing Hyundai's Ioniq 5s took place in Gyeonggi, with three universities competing to win.

Driverless Ioniq 5s run on the track at an autonomous car race hosted by Hyundai Motor on Friday in Yongin, Gyeonggi. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

YONGIN, Gyeonggi — An Ioniq 5, without any driver inside, runs on a racetrack at the speed of 180 kilometers (112 miles) per hour to overtake another driverless vehicle.

A car following behind makes a wrong turn, goes off the course — and stops there immediately.

Hyundai Motor on Friday held the final match of the Autonomous Driving Challenge, a race of three Ioniq 5s with no drivers but only relying on their autonomous technology, in Speedway in Yongin, Gyeonggi.

Three cars from three universities — Konkuk University, KAIST and Inha University — have developed their own Ioniq 5s, which itself comes with come with Level 2 autonomous technology, by setting radar and cameras on the exterior of the car based on their own algorithm.

The cars competed in a race consisting of 10 laps of a 2.7-kilometer track.

Driverless Ioniq 5s run on the track at an autonomous car race hosted by Hyundai Motor on Friday in Yongin, Gyeonggi. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

All cars have a maximum speed of 180 kilometers per hour but could not exceed 100 kilometers per hour until the end of the fourth lap.

Konkuk team ranked 1st with 27 minutes and 25 seconds, while KAIST with 29 minutes and 31 seconds.

Inha was disqualified as it went off the course after making a wrong turn.

"We focused on minimizing equipment on the exterior of the car and instead emphasized developing a clear and thorough algorithm," said Seok Ji-won, leader of the winning Konkuk University team.

A smashed Ioniq 5 that got into an accident in a preliminary match held on Thursday [SARAH CHEA]

The winning team will be given with 100 million won ($75,800) prize and a free field trip to the United States, Hyundai said. The second-placed team gets 30 million won and a field trip to Singapore, while the third team gets 10 million won.

All students in the three teams are exempt from the resume screening process if they wish to work at Hyundai in the future.

The Autonomous Driving Challenge is an annual event hosted by Hyundai Motor in order to support students and their ideas to develop fast-growing autonomous technology.

A total of 16 teams from nine universities applied to the race this year. Six teams were selected and each was given with an Ioniq 5 and 50 million won of funds.

But three teams got into an accident in a preliminary match on Thursday — which meant only three teams made it to the final.

"This competition is meaningful in that we examine [the cars] comprehensively including the cars' recognition and control technologies at high speeds," said Kim Yong-hwa, chief technology officer at Hyundai Motor and Kia. "By giving students a chance to compete with their technologies, Hyundai will lead the way to help many universities focus on developing pacesetting technologies."

A Konkuk University team poses with their Ioniq 5 after they won the Autonomous Driving Challenge, hosted by Hyundai Motor, on Friday in Yongin, Gyeonggi. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Hyundai Motor recently scrapped its initial plan of releasing G90 and EV9 with Level 3 autonomous technology by the end of the year due to technical limitations.

It is "still working on it, though details about the commercialization date cannot be specified," said a Hyundai spokesperson.

Human intervention is only occasionally needed for vehicles with Level 3 technology. A Level 4 self-driving vehicle is able to operate on its own under ordinary conditions while human intervention is rarely required. A Level 5 vehicle can manage all scenarios on its own, which is not technologically possible yet.

42dot, an autonomous mobility firm owned by Hyundai Motor, is currently pilot-running shuttle buses with Level 4 technology on the streets of Seoul and Gyeonggi.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]