- High-speed robot can arrive on site within 5 minutes -UIWANG, South Korea – MARCH 7 – A true era of Deep Underground Railways will begin when the GTX-A line connecting Suseo and Dongtan opens March 30th as scheduled. The deep underground railway usually runs in tunnels deeper than 40 meters. Any underground accident such as a fire may result in large-scale human casualties, which makes it essential to prepare for emergencies.The Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI) (President: Dr. Seok-Youn Han) has developed a high-speed video monitoring robot to better respond to a variety of emergencies such as fire or flooding that may occur in tunnels or underground railway sections.This robot runs on the track installed on the side wall of a tunnel at high speed, managing accident situations in the tunnel.These robots will arrive on site within five minutes after an accident occurs and guide passengers to the nearest exit. Equipped with high-definition optical and thermal cameras, the robots deliver visual and acoustic data acquired on-site to the rail control center through both wired and wireless networks for swift response to accidents.The robots will be located at intervals of 3 km and run in speed of over 20km/h, guiding passengers to the exit using loudspeakers and illuminating devices.All parts of the robot are heat resistant so that it can work even in high temperatures, such as in a fire.Under normal circumstances, the robots are used for monitoring purposes, overseeing night tunnel worker’s management of tracks. They can measure temperature, humidity and fine dust concentration levels in underground environments and diagnose different abnormal conditions in tunnels using the AI-powered video analysis devices.This system has been developed by robot developer Hyunsung Co., Ltd. (CEO: Byung-Kang Park) and Jinwon System Co., Ltd. (President/CEO: Je-Pil Yu) as a monitoring system developer along with KRRI. Currently, the system is undergoing test operations in tunnel sections of KRRI’s Osong Railway Comprehensive Test Track.※ Related research project- Title: Development of recognition, prediction and response technologies for high-risk emergencies on deep underground railway- Funded by: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement (KAIA)- Research period: 1st April 2023 - 31st December 2026- Person in charge: Duckhee Lee, Senior Researcher at KRRI“This robot has a detachable structure, which means that it is very easy to install and highly heat-resistant,” said Duckhee Lee, Senior Researcher at KRRI and head of this project. “We will focus more on AI-powered analytics technology to make the robots smarter.”“It is expected that we will see more underground spaces, such as underground railways, being created in cities in the future,” said KRRI President Dr. Han. “KRRI is committed to R&D efforts so that this evacuation guide robot will play a key role in smart safety technology that will ensure the safety of railroad passengers and citizens more than anything else.”Press ContactsYongmook KANGKorea Railroad Research Instituteymkang@krri.re.kr+82 31 460 5184

- Utilization of 5G network slicing technology -UIWANG, South Korea – FEBRUARY 15 – The Korea Railroad Research Institute (President: Dr. Seok-Youn Han) has developed a network slicing-based mission critical service technology in collaboration with Cybertel Bridge Co., Ltd. and Netcube, Inc., successfully demonstrating the service in a 5G testbed environment for the first time.Mission critical service is a standards technology of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the world’s largest telecommunications standard development organization designed to support multilateral voice, video and data communications in a stable manner, which consists of Mission Critical Push To Talk (MCPTT), MCVideo and MCData.Network slicing, a core technology for 5G telecommunications, is a virtual network architecture that creates multiple virtual networks on top of a single, physical network. This technology can simultaneously allow for different customized telecommunications by service, such as autonomous driving requiring ultra-low delay, high-speed video services.This technology allows users to prioritize transmissions by providing resources and services on 5G networks on a differentiated basis, depending on quality requirements by service, such as MCPTT, MCVideo, MCData.KRRI has developed a technology that allows a 5G device to access a slice designated for more than two mission-critical services, enhancing security of services using access authentication by slice. KRRI has now successfully demonstrated the technology.MCPTT service has already been introduced to Public Safety-Long Term Evolution (PS-LTE) and LTE-Railway (LTE-R). But it has also become necessary to offer next-generation mission critical services for service advancement and intellectualization.The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to introduce MCVideo and MCData, and to advance communications infrastructure for enhancing disaster response capabilities in accordance with the 1st Master Plan for Disaster Safety Communication Network (2022-2026).The International Union of Railways (Union Internationale des Chemins de fer, UIC) and European Union (EU) are running a project that aims to upgrade the 2G GSM-R system to a 5G mission critical service based Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS).As part of the 5G Testbed Demonstration for Integrated Services project led by the National Information Society Agency (NIA), KRRI has completed verifying the functions and performance of the technology in a 5G testbed environment (Pangyo) in cooperation with the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA), which was selected as a best practice for 5G integrated service testbed project.※ Related research project (Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation, IITP)- Title: Development and operation of a network slicing based 5G testbed for integrated services- Research institute in charge: National Information Society Agency (NIA)- Demonstration project title: Development of a safe and reliable network slicing based mission critical services technology and demonstration- Participating research institutes: KRRI, Cybertel Bridge Co., Ltd. and Netcube, Inc.- Research period & budget: Sept. 2023 – Dec. 2023 (3.5 months) / KRW 299 million (funded by the government)- Person in charge: Seong-Soo Park, Senior Researcher at KRRI“We plan to continue our research to apply this 5G network technology not only in the public sector, such as public safety and railroads, but also in different areas in the private sector, such as manufacturing and logistics,” said Seong-Soo Park, Senior Researcher at KRRI.“KRRI has successfully developed and a world-class K-railroad technology based on the government’s 5G network testing/verification support system and verified the technology,” said KRRI President Dr. Han. “We will work harder to build world-class digital capabilities for realizing the country’s digital strategies.”※ Attachment: Concept diagram of network slicing based mission critical service and demonstration of the servicePress ContactsYongmook KANGKorea Railroad Research Instituteymkang@krri.re.kr+82 31 460 5184