Hyundai and Kia develop UWB-based safety system

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation have developed Vision Pulse, a safety system that uses ultra-wide band (UWB) signals to detect the position of obstacles around a vehicle in real time, with accuracy of up to 10 centimetres within a 100-metre radius. The system works by measuring signal travel time between UWB modules in vehicles and those in nearby smartphones, wearables or other equipped devices, issuing alerts when a potential collision is detected.

The automakers said Vision Pulse maintains over 99% detection accuracy in adverse weather or nighttime conditions, with communication speeds of 1–5 milliseconds. Vehicles equipped with Hyundai and Kia’s Digital Key 2 system already include UWB modules, requiring no additional hardware.

Hyundai and Kia said the technology could reduce reliance on sensors such as lidar and radar for certain advanced driver assistance functions. UWB operates on gigahertz bandwidth with diffraction and penetration capabilities that allow detection in complex urban environments where line of sight may be obstructed.

The companies are trialling Vision Pulse in industrial settings, including at Kia’s PBV Conversion Center in Hwaseong, South Korea, where testing began in 2025 to help prevent collisions between forklifts and workers. Further trials are planned at Busan Port Authority following an agreement signed in October 2025. Hyundai and Kia noted that Vision Pulse remains a pre-development technology, with potential mass-production application still under consideration.

Source: Hyundai