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The world’s first predictive Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Connected Shift System has been developed jointly by Hyundai and Kia. The system is designed to enable the vehicle to automatically select the best gear for the road and traffic conditions.

 

Roughly 40 major patents have been filed in South Korea and abroad for the latest gear shift development which is set to be deployed on future vehicles from both Hyundai and Kia.

 

Whilst automatic shifting technology in one form or another already exists, the ICT connected shift system takes this a step further by interpreting the impending road conditions as well as the surrounding traffic to decide on the best gear accordingly.

 

The system uses software in the transmission control unit (TCU) that collects and interprets inputs in real-time from systems such as 3D navigation, cameras and radar.

 

Using the systems such as the 3D navigation provides information including elevation, gradient, curvature and a variety of road events as well as current traffic conditions. The TCU also predicts based on the information the optimal shift scenario for real-time driving situations.

 

Testing in the real-world showed the frequency of shifts in cornering on a heavily curved road was down approximately 43 per cent compared to a vehicle without the ICT connected shift system. Brake operation was also reduced by approximately 11 per cent.

 

Similarly, when rapid acceleration was needed to enter a highway, the driving mode automatically switched to Sport Mode at the merge to aid in the integration to traffic. The system then returned to the original driving mode once the manoeuvre was complete.

 

From here the plan is to further develop the technology to be able to communicate with traffic signals based on LTE or 5G communication and identify drivers’ tendencies, resulting in further refinement of gear-shift control.