South Korea’s island of Jeju will launch UAM and drone taxis for tourists in the island by 2025, the first place in the country to do so.
The inventions will connect the island’s tourist areas, including popular hotels and resorts., with its three types of routes, devised by South Korean aviation company Kencoa Aerospace and the Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC).
Jeju Island plans to use UAMs and drone taxis as an urban air transportation system centered on tourist destinations.
With fewer restrictions, UAMs are easier to operate in Jeju than Seoul. Currently, Seoul and the Han River are both included in the no-fly zone.
"Jeju Island has easy access to airspace and better topographical features to ensure safety and the possibility of building a support port at sea," said Chan-Young Jung, director of KENCOA Aerospace.
According to the recent findings by Korea Herald, the world's first draft of the 'Act on Promotion and Support of UAM Utilization' has been proposed to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport.
The draft includes details such as the altitude for UAMs to fly, likely be "between 300 meters and 600 meters.”
The government will also discuss lifting aviation and security regulations that have been a barrier to commercialize UAm in the second half of the year.
Currently, there are six domestic consortiums that have launched UAM , and a total of 51 companies have applied for the demonstration project alone, including GS ITM, an IT software and solutions company.
SK Telecom has also formed a consortium with Korea Airports Corporation and Hanwha Systems, while Kakao Mobility has applied for participation with LG U+, Jeju Air, GS Caltex, GS E&C, and Vertical.
The KENCOA consortium includes Daewoo E&C, aviation solutions company KENCOA Aerospace, and unmanned aerial vehicle company Astrox.
[Exclusive] Hyundai‘s four-legged walking vehicle obtains patents in US
Hyundai Motor Group has obtained patents for 4-legged walking vehicle in the US.
According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, Hyundai and Kia obtained two patent applications for walking vehicles on last July 6 which were utilized on the Hyundai’s Elevate,
The prototype of Elevate was showcased for the first time at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2019. It can walk on different roads and in many walking ways.
“Patents show where the company is headed as it establishes the maximum protection for their future products before commercialization,” said Kim Pil-soo, an engineering professor at Daelim University. He further mentioned that the collaboration of car and robot will soon take place.
A patent lawyer Lee Tae-hoon also highlighted the company’s patent registration, saying “it is likely that the company considers the technology important and possibly thinking about commercializing it.”
Hyundai has been focusing on the development Iof Ultimate Mobility vehicles since September 2020. The following year, the company launched no-man robot tiger.
Early this year year, Hyundai Motor Group CEO Chung Euisun highlighted the importance of future mobility and robotics during a New Year’s speech.
“We plan to present vehicles that fit the transportation goals of people and objects to the market.we must transform the crisis to opportunity ,” said Chung.