Avikus Aims to Get Ahead in Self-navigation Market as First Mover

Avikus Corp., a subsidiary of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, is planning to expand the application of its autonomous navigation solutions to leisure boats.

On July 12, the company demonstrated the self-navigation of a leisure boat for the first time in Korea. The leisure boat powered by the self-driving solution NAS 2.0 showed more delicate movements than when it was operated by humans. In particular, the boat’s anchoring technology through auto-docking stood out. Cameras on the boat analyzed surroundings, so the boat turned its hull 90 degrees to accurately enter an anchorage, which is about 3.5 meters wide per unit.

Abikus plans to expand its autonomous navigation business to the boat sector from the end of this year. “The self-navigation market is now beginning to open, so there is no clear strong player in the market yet,” said Lim Do-hyung, CEO of Avikus. “If we secure self-navigation technology ahead of others, we will be able to secure leadership as the first mover.”

“High value-added ships are produced in hundreds of units a year around the world, but leisure boats constitute a larger market as more than 10 million units are produced a year,” Lim said. “We will hold a demonstration session at the largest boat exhibition in the United States at the end of October.”

The company provides Hyundai intelligent Navigation Assistant System (HiNAS) for large merchant ships and Avikus intelligent Boat Autonomous Solution (AiBOAT) for boats. HiNAS has two options, Navigation Assistant System (NAS) and Berthing Assistant System (BAS), while AiBOAT has four options:  NAS, Docking Assistant System (DAS), NAS 2.0, and DAS 2.0.

NAS, BAS, and DAS are degree 1 autonomous solutions that assist sailors. NAS 2.0 and DAS 2.0 are degree 2 solutions that replace sailor’s recognition, decision, and control capabilities completely.