The autonomous driving simulation specialist, Morai (CEO: Jeong Ji-Won and Hong Jun), is collaborating with M-City in the United States for joint research in the field of virtual validation and related technologies for autonomous driving.

M-City, located in Michigan, USA, is an autonomous driving-exclusive test city. Both organizations have signed an MOU and a membership agreement to secure fundamental technologies and establish core strategies for mutual cooperation. Through this agreement, Morai’s simulation capabilities and M-City’s infrastructure will be utilized to facilitate the exchange and advancement of autonomous driving technologies between Korea and the United States.

This collaboration follows a business agreement signed in May 2023 between the KATRI(Korea Automobile Testing & Research Institute) and M-City. Morai was selected as a virtual evaluation platform provider and will supply its simulation platform to M-City for this purpose.

Morai and M-City are collaborating on various initiatives, including establishing a virtual testing environment for autonomous driving, data sharing, international joint research, and developing overseas business opportunities. Specifically, the two organizations plan to build a connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technology validation and demonstration environment. M-City will enhance its testbed environment based on Morai’s autonomous driving simulation platform to achieve this goal.

M-City has recently established a virtual testing environment integrated with surrounding real roads through a cloud-based system, offering capabilities (MCity 2.0) that efficiently utilize data centers for autonomous driving technology development. Morai, in conjunction with M-City’s control center, enhances the efficiency and safety of the autonomous driving test environment by implementing Vehicle-in-the-Loop Simulation (VILS) and cloud-connected testing.

Furthermore, both institutions are establishing an international research collaboration system, including the joint use of autonomous driving data. M-City shares real-time traffic and operational databases acquired from road infrastructure sensors with Morai. Morai, in turn, improves its capabilities to generate various edge scenarios and traffic flows similar to real-world situations based on the collected data for verification purposes.

The KATRI ‘s Director of Automotive Safety Research Institute, Eom Seong-Bok, stated, “The Korea Transportation Safety Authority is gradually enhancing the K-City autonomous driving testbed to create a testing environment that prepares for harsh conditions and traffic congestion. Through collaboration between Morai, a domestic autonomous driving simulation specialist participating in R&D for autonomous driving technology development and innovation projects, and M-City, we anticipate that it will foster the exchange of autonomous driving technology between South Korea and the United States and serve as an opportunity to strengthen the domestic autonomous driving evaluation and verification basis.”

Jeong Ji-Won, the CEO of Morai, expressed, “I am pleased to be collaborating for the advancement of the virtual verification environment of the world-renowned autonomous driving test city, M-City. I am grateful to the Automotive Safety Research Institute for providing this opportunity for cooperation. Building upon the research achievements with M-City, we will strive to enhance autonomous driving simulation technology and integrate it into various national autonomous driving research and development efforts. We aim to contribute to commercializing the domestic autonomous driving industry.”

As part of the collaboration, Morai, the Automotive Safety Research Institute, and M-City will jointly host an International Cooperation and Technology Exchange Seminar on November 13th.

Morai is in Pangyo Techno Valley, a pilot autonomous driving city in South Korea. The company closely collaborates with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Korea Autonomous Driving Development Innovation Foundation, and the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement for the establishment of a ‘Metaverse-Based Autonomous Driving Virtual Testing Environment and Demonstration Technology Development’ national R&D project. They also closely cooperate with the Korea Transportation Safety Authority’s Automotive Safety Research Institute for this purpose.

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