Hyundai Motor Company of Korea and Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have signed an agreement to carry out four pilot projects to develop advanced technologies for smart manufacturing facilities for electric vehicles (EVs). Under the terms of the agreement, they will also embark on R&D projects to develop future mobility solutions.

Focusing on Industry 4.0 technologies, they aim to develop advanced solutions that can transform conventional car manufacturing facilities into state-of-the-art smart factories of the future.

AI, 3D Additive Manufacturing

Both of the entities will embark on pilot R&D projects starting September, tapping into the possible application of artificial intelligence (AI) and 3D additive manufacturing solutions for EV production lines.

Researches on AI solution will focus on AI-based image processing sensors to detect defects and anomalies occurring in battery cells during EV manufacturing process.

Meanwhile, the project will explore the possible integration of 3D printing or additive manufacturing solution into EV production line to customize parts based on customers’ preference.

Project Spin Off

NTU Senior Vice President (Research) Professor Lam Khin Yong and Hyundai Motor Group Senior Vice President Hong Bum Jung signed the collaboration agreement at a ceremony held at NTU on Sept. 1.

Professor Subra Suresh, NTU President, said, “The partnership between NTU and Hyundai Motor Group provides one more example of how our close collaboration with industry plays an important role in developing relevant solutions to address real world issues. This is in line with the NTU 2025 strategic plan, which aims to address some of the grand challenges facing humanity. This collaboration with Hyundai Motor Group will build on NTU’s core strengths in additive manufacturing, AI, autonomous and electric vehicles, and big data to bring about benefits to the automotive industry, to Singapore, and the global society.”

The agreement signing follows an earlier announcement made in Oct. 2020 during the virtual groundbreaking ceremony for Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Centre in Singapore (HMGICS). During the ceremony, NTU was announced as the first academic research partner for the Group’s HMGICS initiative.

President and Chief Innovation Officer of Hyundai Motor Group, Youngcho Chi said, “HMGICS aims to build an ecosystem for the future mobility industry based on open innovation. We are going to strengthen collaboration with NTU and develop advanced solutions to revolutionize future mobility value chain going forward.”

The HMGICS is an open research facility for the Group’s future mobility research and development. Located at Singapore’s Jurong Innovation District, the facility is only a five-minute drive from the NTU Smart Campus, which is a living testbed of innovative digital and tech-enabled solutions. The construction of HMGICS is expected to be completed at the end of 2022.