MARS AUTO Hits 10 Million Km Autonomous Truck Data Milestone

SEOUL, South Korea — MARS AUTO said on Monday it had collected 10 million kilometers of driving data from its autonomous trucks and onboard data collection devices.

According to the company, 2 million kilometers were recorded from autonomous freight operations and 8 million kilometers from camera-based devices installed on trucks operated by logistics partners.

MARS AUTO began paid freight services in 2023 after receiving regulatory approval from the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy in 2022, according to the company.

The company reported more than 5,000 paid trips, with an average round-trip distance of approximately 540 kilometers.

MARS AUTO has partnerships with several logistics and transportation firms, including Hyundai Glovis, Lotte Global Logistics, and CJ Logistics.

The collected data covers various conditions, such as day and night driving, rain, heavy snow, traffic congestion, and accidents, the company said.

The data is used to train an end-to-end neural network for autonomous truck driving, according to MARS AUTO.

In November, the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology selected MARS AUTO as the lead organization for a government-funded project valued at KRW 18.2 billion (US$13 million).

The project involves 13 organizations and has a 2027 completion target, according to the company.

Choi Yoon-seok, head of the mobility team at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said MARS AUTO is conducting tests on domestic highways and in Texas.

MARS AUTO plans to expand its data-collection devices to more than 1,000 units and to collect 100 million kilometers of data, the company said.