Hyundai and Kia to develop mobility solutions to explore the surface of the moon

On July 27, Hyundai and Kia made a statement announcing the signing of cooperative research agreements with six Korean research institutions and the formation of a consultative group to create mobility solutions for lunar surface exploration. The declaration comes after Korea launched a domestically made rocket successfully in June.

Chung Kook Park, President and Head of R&D Division of Hyundai Motor and Kia, as well as top representatives from the six research institutes, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), Korea Institute of Astronomy and Space Science (KASI), Korea Automotive Technology Institute (KATECH), and Korea Institute of Electronics and Telecomm, were present at the signing ceremony that took place in Korea (ETRI).

The consultative group will define the idea of lunar exploration mobility and main core technologies while formulating and assessing detailed strategies and implementation methods to function on the moon, with collaboration likely to begin as early as August. The consultative body would be supported by the smart mobility technologies from Hyundai Motor and Kia.

In accordance with the terms of the multilateral research agreement, the participants from the public and private sectors will pool their expertise and resources to considerably enhance their current technologies and develop fresh ideas for lunar exploration mobility. The use of expertise will be made possible in a variety of fields, including those remote communication capabilities, mobility operation software, and exploration equipment.

The moon's surface is an extraordinarily hostile environment, with no atmosphere, high temperatures, and innumerable craters and coats of lunar dust made up of sharp and abrasive particles. While it presents substantial obstacles to the advancement of surface exploration mobility, it also serves as the ultimate testing ground and will teach Hyundai and Kia priceless insights that will help them provide smart and sustainable mobility solutions on earth even more quickly.

To help with the development and management of lunar surface mobility, Hyundai and Kia have established an internal advisory group comprising important individuals. The Robotics Lab of Hyundai and Kia, which is in charge of developing robots, will contribute resources.

Additionally, Hyundai and Kia will work together on the design and interpretation of software and hardware, space environment response technologies, and specialized equipment for carrying out lunar exploration missions.

A turning point in Hyundai Motor and Kia's histories, the global agreement to create lunar mobility extends their vision for future mobility, including robotics and AAM, to places other than the Earth. With the new lunar exploration mobility robots development, Hyundai and Kia also want to obtain exclusive technology for upcoming mobility enterprises.

At CES 2022 in January, Hyundai Motor unveiled their robotics vision of "Metamobilty" to assist people to get over physical restrictions. The announcement included a video of Boston Dynamics' SPOT space exploration robot.

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