Infocom Ltd. is a leading Ukrainian developer in the segment of unmanned ground transport. The situation in this segment and the connection with the infrastructure are commented on by the CEO of the company, Trotsenko Edward.
Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) are to be widespread reality as early as 2030. Developed countries are investing billions of dollars in this direction and Tesla and Google’s experiments are on everyone’s hearing. UGV – and in all its varieties (autonomous cars, railways, defense …) has a number of significant advantages. These include the reduction of depreciation and repair costs, fuel economy, personnel costs and freight delivery. But the biggest advantage is the reduction of road accidents. World experts estimate this figure at 70%. And when it comes to the defense complex, it’s about preserving human lives.
To meet this complex, technological challenge, UGV must be truly reliable. The most important tasks are the analysis of the road situation, the identification of obstacles, the avoidance of emergencies, the construction of routes and more. All this requires serious development, especially since unmanned technologies provide continuous interaction with other cars, with pedestrians, analysis of the technical condition of the car, adaptation to weather conditions, etc..
Of course, the mass deployment of UGVs requires road infrastructure – and there is a huge difference with drones. We do not have yet such infrastructure in Ukraine, and that is why we are focusing on off-road types of UGVs. We have developed several types of UGVs – from robotic military platforms, unmanned vehicles, there are also projects for railway transport.
But for the future, we need to change the legislation and look strategically at the development of this trend in Ukraine. In the current national transport strategy of Ukraine until 2030 UGV is hardly represented at all, and there are no goals for development. If Ukraine wants to be in line with world trends, this situation needs to be changed immediately.
Strategically, UGV is a huge market that opens up new opportunities for hundreds of developers and manufacturers. Our priority today is in smart integration into EU value chains. We consider ourselves as a part of EU R&D landscape where we can participate in common EU programs, develop and test specific product and solutions, using our experience.
In addition to certain ready-to-use products and promising developments, Infocom Ltd. has a number of developments for the local legislative base, as well as ready business plans for the development of electric transport. Therefore, I believe that developers should unite and work with government institutions and European partners to accelerate the development of this area. The full description of the Infocom Ltd. solution can be downloaded from this link.
