Hyundai Movex, a logistics solutions corporation under Hyundai Group, said on the 28th that it was selected as the lead research and development institution for the Shipbuilding and Offshore Industry Technology Development Program and will take part in a Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation project.

The program is a state project supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources and the Korea Planning & Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT). It is designed to fund original and core technologies, as well as equipment development, for shipbuilding and offshore plants.

Hyundai Movex was designated as the lead institution for research and development of the project titled “development and demonstration of core technologies for an intelligent Autonomous Driving transporter for ultra-large block transport to shift the smart ship manufacturing paradigm” among new shipbuilding tasks. The company will receive 19 billion won in government support.

Under the project, Hyundai Movex will develop Autonomous Driving technology to transport shipyard blocks, large structures used for ship assembly, and demonstrate it on-site at a U.S. shipyard. The project will run for 42 months. Hyundai Movex said it plans to secure shipbuilding process innovation technologies through the development of ultra-heavy Autonomous Driving transport robots, integrated control and virtual driving verification, AI-based block transport stability simulation, and overseas demonstration support scenarios.

Eight institutions, including Samsung Heavy Industries, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, and Hanwha Ocean, will participate as joint research and development institutions. The project brings together major shipbuilders and equipment-related institutions at a time when shipyards are increasingly looking to automate the movement of large blocks, which are a foundational part of assembly work and require precise transport inside crowded production sites.

Hyundai Movex said the project will be pursued through technology exchange and cooperation between Korea and the United States. The two countries held an opening ceremony for the Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Cooperation Center in Washington, D.C., on the 23rd.

On the same day, Hyundai Movex signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for technological cooperation with the U.S. nonprofit research institution Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). At a technology exchange meeting, it also announced a research and development plan for “Autonomous Driving transport technology in the ship manufacturing process.”

Source: Chosunbiz