Hyundai Transys and Brose to jointly develop car seats for autonomous cars, EVs

Hyundai Transys has signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) for developing future car seats with Brose Fahrzeugteile, the well-known German car seat mechanism company.

On October 12, at the Dongtan Seat Research Center, Hyundai Transys signed the JDA for joint development of self-driving car and electric vehicle seat parts in the presence of Andreas Jagl, senior vice-president of Brose Group's seat business unit, and Su-dong Yeo, CEO of Hyundai Transys.

The JDA confirmed the plan to jointly develop future car seats between Hyundai Transys and Brose and summarised the joint research and cooperation tasks by embodying the MOU signed on December 19. With this, the core technology task for the future seat, which has been discussed for 20 months, has been confirmed and full-scale collaboration has begun for the development of new technology.

The JDA involves development of: 
- Autonomous driving-specialised mechanism (freely rotate, move, and relax according to various situations)
- Seat structure stabilisation (with built-in seatbelt)
- Ultra-slim and lightweight seat (to increase fuel efficiency)
- Promote research collaboration for the development of weight reduction and application of new materials.

Starting with the signing of this JDA, Hyundai Transys aims to mass-produce seats with new technologies in 2025, and plans to go beyond research tasks and target the global autonomous vehicle market.

Smart seat massage technology for future cars
In addition, Hyundai Transys has recently introduced various new seat technologies related to future car seats.  Last month, Hyundai Transys acquired the National New Technology (NET) certification for the world's first [pneumatic control and control technology that implemented massage function for vehicle seats] jointly developed with Hyundai Motor Company and TSA.

Pneumatic adjustment and control technology that implements massage function for vehicle seats  can be seen as a kind of massage function for future vehicle seats. In the past, the massage function was developed and applied to some high-end vehicles, but this is the first time that a comprehensive system that can be smartly adjusted through a pneumatic control system for each part has been developed. By applying this technology, it is possible to dramatically reduce the fatigue of passengers while improving the overall body support performance during long driving.

In addition, most of the existing pneumatic control devices were applied only to the back side of the seat back pad (Side B: the area where the passenger's back does not directly touch), but this technology has It is special in that all the related parts are built into the seat while applying the massage function to the affected area).

For the massage function of some overseas competitor cars, Hyundai Transys says it “ was common to mount parts including a pneumatic pump in the trunk rather than the seat. However, Hyundai Transys installed all these parts in the seat, while reducing the size of the parts and reducing noise, thereby eliminating foreign body sensation, improving support, and satisfying the emotional quality of passengers.”

Hyundai Transys also provides 'seat antifouling technology (leather coating technology using eco-friendly silicone to prevent seat contamination), 'covering integrated seat backboard technology that directly sews and attaches a backboard to the covering to make the seat slimmer/lightweight.