LG Uplus demonstrates 5G-based self-driving and self-parking on Dec. 17.

LG Uplus and Hanyang University’s automotive electronic control lab, and ControlWorks, a self-driving solution company demonstrated the world’s first 5G-based self-parking in an online news conference on Dec. 17.

5G self-parking is a kind of autonomous valet parking in which a car goes to a nearby parking lot and parks in an empty space on its own. It marked the first time in the world that 5G-based autonomous driving and parking has been demonstrated on roads and in a public parking lot in an uncontrolled environment.

This demonstration took place about one year after LG Uplus introduced unmanned vehicle remote call technology in October 2019. The technology laid the foundation for ushering in the so-called unmanned vehicle era in which vehicles approach drivers, run autonomously when people get on, and go to a parking lot and park on their own when people get off.

The public demonstration was held at the 5G Self-Driving Demonstration Zone in Sangam, Seoul. The “A1” self-driving vehicle traveled about 800 meters from YTN News Square Building to Sangam 1 Public Parking Lot for five minutes, then stopped in an empty parking space and turned off its engine on its own.

The vehicle began to move at a touch of an app without a driver behind the wheel. The A1 passed five crosswalks and three intersections by exchanging signal information via 5G communication services. Motorcycles and other vehicles cut in the middle, but the A1 detected them accurately with its five sensors and continued to run in a stable manner,.

The vehicle arrived at Sangam Public Parking Lot 1, and the entrance to the parking lot seemed not wide enough for a large sports utility vehicle (SUV) to pass. But the A1 passed without stopping and arrived at the designated parking area. Parking was completed with only one time of running in reverse and the engine turned off.