The collaboration brings together two leading innovators in the autonomous vehicle industry. Perrone Robotics holds a Pioneer Patent for its “MAX” General Purpose Robotics Operating System, and with its TONY solution the company has perfected a “drop-in any vehicle” retrofit kit approach to autonomy, making it one of the most flexible and adaptable solutions available. Local Motors’ Olli line complements Perrone’s innovation, leveraging 3D printing and agile processes to deliver fully integrated vehicles that evolve at the speed of customer needs.

Under the agreement, the companies will dramatically improve mobility options across the transit and transportation value chain while enhancing the customer and end-user experience. The two companies plan on launching the Olli vehicle with Perrone’s TONY AV technology in the fall of 2021 and, moving forward, Perrone Robotics will now be the strategic software vendor for the Olli Autonomous Shuttle. With this new collaboration, Perrone will contribute its expertise in AV robotic technology development and deployment and integrate its patented TONY retrofit kit across Local Motors’ Olli vehicle line to enable deployments across customer use cases on both public and private roads where fully autonomous capability at posted speeds is required. Local Motors will support the integration, testing, deployment and mass production of the Olli vehicle. In addition, both companies will focus on scaled delivery and deployment of Olli vehicles integrated with Perrone’s technology for US and international markets.

Under the umbrella of “The Autonomous”, the members of this first Working Group are committed to working towards a safe system architecture for self-driving vehicles. The goal of this collaboration is to lay the basis for safety standardization and pave the way for mass autonomous vehicle production.

Increasing complexity and research costs
According to PWC, car manufacturers’ R&D costs have increased significantly due to the rise of electric, connected and autonomous vehicle development. In the USA and Asia, R&D spending rose by one-third (to €13 bn and €28 bn respectively), while in Europe it increased by 75 percent to €42 bn during the last decade. But increasing costs are not the only challenge for companies within the automated driving sector.

Product liability, emerging technological best practices and increasing technical complexity all demand know-how in various fields to solve remaining safety problems. To overcome these challenges, The Autonomous proposes a collaborative approach, bringing all relevant industry players together to jointly develop recommendations, specifications and best practices.  

A safe vehicle architecture for the industry
Following its kick-off in 2019 and multiple Chapter Events in 2020 with more than 1,500 participants, The Autonomous has now established a new level of long-term collaboration with the first Working Group entitled “Safety & Architecture”. The upcoming safe system architecture for self-driving vehicles will include subsystems that connect to sensors and actuators as well as fault-containment units to ensure the safe automated operation of the overall vehicle. The resulting vehicle architecture will represent a reference solution for all participating members as a first step and subsequently may become of use for other companies and regions.

Industry benefits and an invitation to participate
The Working Group’s consolidated output will be published in the form of a technical report. The report will support knowledge transfer and give concrete guidance to the automotive industry for the series production of safe autonomous vehicles. Liaison and alignment with standard bodies will ensure that the Working Group outcome complements safety-related industry standards.

Contributors can initiate further Working Groups on The Autonomous platform in order to tackle key safety challenges of safe automated driving. The Autonomous community consists of participants from industry, government and academia as well as disruptors. A public announcement will follow at The Autonomous Main Event (www.the-autonomous.com) on September 29, the flagship event of the initiative.

In 2020 Ibeo was the first LiDAR company worldwide to receive a nomination from an automotive OEM for the serial production of a solid-state LiDAR. For the OEM, Great Wall Motors of China, automated driving is a key strategic pillar of their product roadmap. Earlier this year a number of other OEMs also announced to introduce LiDAR systems to enable automated driving functionalities. Automated driving is one of the fastest growing market segments within the automotive industry. The combination of leading proven technology, industrialization competencies and competitive pricing positions Ibeo as a key supplier in this market.

Besides addressing the automotive market Ibeo signed a cooperation agreement for volume orders with SICK, a market leader in optical sensors for industrial applications, in 2021 to address the industrial market.

AAC complements the existing partnership of Ibeo with ZF, which focuses on the industrialization of the new ibeoNEXT. The partnership with AAC strengthens Ibeo’s market position in Asia and allows Ibeo to leverage AAC’s unique leadership in imaging technologies as well as its long-standing expertise in high precision, high volume manufacturing. In addition, the newly formed partnership with AAC will open access for Ibeo to other potential applications for Ibeo’s solid-state LiDAR in other markets, e.g. consumer electronics. Ibeo aims to establish themselves as a Top-3 global supplier for automotive LiDAR systems and a leading supplier of LiDAR technology to the industrial and consumer electronics markets.

The Navya shuttles (180 units sold as at December 31, 2020) which are operated worldwide are already equipped with Valeo technologies. The aim is to ramp up the Research and Development program to build level 4 autonomous driving systems that can be brought to market within the next three years.

Valeo will provide Navya with the sensors and associated algorithms that will enable the vehicle to closely perceive its surroundings, and Navya will share the technical and functional data collected during experimentations. At the end of this phase, Valeo will manufacture and supply the selected components, so that they can be integrated in the autonomous driving solutions marketed by Navya.

From a technological perspective, the collaboration will focus in particular on the following components: cameras, artificial intelligence softwares and electronic control units (ECUs).

In terms of driving assistance (ADAS), Valeo has the most extensive portfolio of technologies on the market, all of which are manufactured on a large scale. They include ultrasonic sensors, cameras, radars and the first 3D LiDAR to enter series production and meet the demanding specifications of the automotive industry

Valeo also provides the brain of the technology – the control unit – which combines and processes the data collected. The control unit maps out a detailed 360° image of the vehicle’s surroundings and uses algorithms to detect objects and provide safety functions.

This technological, industrial and commercial partnership builds on the longstanding cooperation agreements between the two companies, particularly those concerning the sensors used on the Autonom^® Shuttle. The applications resulting from the first phase of development are expected in the third quarter of 2022.

The joint solution comprises Vector’s AUTOSAR Adaptive technologies and the new Wind River Studio, which includes the VxWorks® real-time operating system (RTOS). Wind River Studio is the industry’s first cloud-native platform for the development, deployment, operations, and servicing of mission-critical intelligent systems. The combined solution will support safety-critical applications that require hard real-time, deterministic performance and allow auto manufacturers to deliver SOA components to address a mixed-criticality environment. 

The accelerated innovation cycles of the consumer electronics industry have reset automotive consumer expectations, putting demands on the vehicle beyond its traditional electrical/electronic architecture. Projections hold that electrified vehicles (xEVs) such as hybrid and pure electric vehicles and ADAS systems will add to this pressure, with xEVs predicted to take 51% of the automotive market by 2030.1 This is driving the industry to evolve from the fixed function, physical electronic control unit (ECU) to the intelligent serviceable ECU.

Intelligent serviceable ECUs merge domain functions and features that are currently decentralized, allowing auto makers to reduce ECU complexity and extend the value and life of the vehicle with communication to connected cloud services, offer software-as-a-service, increase automated operations, and use machine-generated data to accelerate data-driven decision-making. This profound change to the ECU will be powered by SOA, a key technology enabler that defines a way to make software components reusable via service interfaces that use common communication standards.

SOA allows automotive software developers to extend their activities to address the full lifecycle of the intelligent serviceable ECU. The lifecycle includes design and development, verification, software deployment, and ongoing function upgrades and software updates. In the future, enterprise operations can use SOA as an adjacent technology for the digital feedback loop, stay connected with the vehicle, monitor ECU telemetry information enabling real-time actions, and deliver new services to the customer in a dynamic way. 

The platform will address the growing needs of the automotive ecosystem for scalable and upgradable solutions, which requires highly advanced and power-efficient compute, connectivity and cloud service capabilities across all vehicle tiers. 

The system integrates Veoneer’s next-generation perception and driving policy software stack and Qualcomm Snapdragon Ride ADAS/AD scalable portfolio of System on a Chip (SoC) and Accelerators. Veoneer and Qualcomm Technologies have worked together for several months to create a world leading roadmap of a scalable, open ADAS and autonomous driving system that will be able to address the entire automotive OEM market with an integrated software and SoC platform.

Arriver is Veoneer’s dedicated software unit for the development of the complete perception and drive policy software stack. It is 100% owned by Veoneer but will operate under specific information handling protocols and reporting structures as part of its collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies.

In addition to today’s final agreement, Veoneer and Qualcomm Technologies have progressed on roadmap feature implementations. Arriver software is already functional on the Snapdragon Ride Platform, which will be available for automotive customers in coming months. 

The collaboration between the companies has been presented to a number of automotive OEMs and Tier-1 automotive suppliers with very positive feedback to the intended specifications and capabilities of the platform.

Livox has customized its Horiz sensor (the automotive-grade version of its Livox Horizon) for Xpeng, not only meeting automotive-grade requirements but also delivering cost efficiency and reliability for production models. The implementation of lidar in XPILOT architecture – Xpeng’s autonomous driving system – will further enhance XPILOT’s safety as well as the ability to cover a comprehensive range of driving scenarios.

Xpeng’s new 2021 production model will be the world’s first mass-produced smart EVs equipped with lidar, solidifying Xpeng’s cutting-edge position in the smart EV technology.

Livox is enhancing the detection range of its Horiz sensor to 150m (for objects at 10% reflectivity), enabling Xpeng’s XPILOT system to easily detect any remote obstacle while on highways and urban roads. Livox’s customized solution for Xpeng also includes a new “ultra FPS” (Frames Per Second) lidar technology concept. Through a cleverly designed rotating-mirror technology, the objects within the lidar’s ROI (Region of Interest) will acquire a 20Hz point cloud data when the whole system is working at a frame rate of 10Hz. The new ROI point cloud density is hence increased to 144 lines equivalent at 0.1 second without the need for extra laser transmitters. The increased point cloud density enables the faster detection of tiny objects on the road surface, including pedestrians, bicycles or even traffic cones. The horizontal FOV of Horiz has also reached 120°. This greatly enhances the smart driving experience by resolving many persistent challenges faced by drivers, including the removal of blind spots against cut-in vehicles.

Renesas is already investing in LeddarTech SoC development and production for the LeddarEngine, consisting of integrated LiDAR SoCs, the LCA2 and LCA3, and accompanying LiDAR measurement software. These SoCs power the most cost-efficient LiDARs enabling mass deployment of advanced level 2 and 3 passenger car ADAS applications and a broad range of mobility and industrial applications.

This automotive ADAS reference platform expands the companies’ collaboration to the system level with a sensor fusion solution applicable to the camera and RADAR sensor-based systems plus systems that add LiDAR to deliver higher safety and performance. These improvements are achieved with a software-centric and extensible architecture compatible with the Renesas’ R-Car V3U processor and roadmap.

Recently, FAW Jiefang and Zhito Technology unveiled the J7 L3 super-truck, a joint development by the two companies. Partnering with Livox to add automotive-grade lidars, the J7 L3 model is the first mass production heavy-duty truck to use lidar. This historic partnership pushes truck manufacturing and logistics into the era of smart driving with the latest hardware and software.

Livox boasts a unique solid-state rotating-polygon technology and is supported by DJI’s established supply chain management and manufacturing capabilities as well as quality control system. Through years of experience, Livox has managed to overcome bottlenecks such as cost, reliability, and production scalability that have restricted the large-scale application of lidar in the past. Livox products meet the requirements for automotive-grade lidars in autonomous driving, and are highly regarded by the research and development, quality, and commercial teams of Zhito Technology.

Lidar is an indispensable core sensor in high-level autonomous systems because of the advantages it offers such as superior range perception and low-light environment adaptability. Statistics show that heavy-duty commercial trucks typically run on highways continuously for over 17 hours a day. Such year-round, high-intensity use meant that FAW Jiefang’s requirements for Livox lidars were much higher than for passenger vehicles. These strict requirements include higher reliability, stability, and vibration resistance along with a 10-year design life cycle and 1.5 million miles.

Through fast and efficient communication with customers as well as its sophisticated smart manufacturing and supply chain system management, Livox was able to successfully achieve these stringent product requirements. This collaboration is a new industry milestone for the large-scale mass production of lidars since the collaboration with Gaussian Robotics in July this year for a mass production at the 10,000-unit scale.

Livox’s unique patented hermetic packaging technology DL-PACK ensures the high reliability of core emission and reception components while simplifying the focusing process on the production lines. One-time automatic focusing is applied on each Livox product, rendering the manufacturing process dozens of times more efficient than with traditional mechanical lidars. These enable mass production at a large scale while reducing the assembling cost dramatically.

Besides ensuring mass production deliverability, automotive-grade components are also used for all the core parts of Livox Horizon. They meet the AEC-Q and other relevant standards, and have passed reliability standard tests such as ISO16750 and IEC60068 and fulfilled the EMC test standards of ISO11452, ISO7637 and CISPR25. These ensure the service life of the products and various test standards and results meet the automotive-grade requirements.

Backed by DJI’s automotive-grade smart manufacturing center, the Livox production lines are installed with state-of-the-art test equipment and automotive-grade laboratories certified by the state. Furthermore, the planned annual mass production capacity for a single production line has been set at 100,000 units, with four to five production lines to be rolled out eventually at the manufacturing center to meet the annual production requirement of 500,000 lidars. Livox has achieved a major breakthrough in its research and development of automotive-grade lidars, and has the capacity to tackle automotive-grade mass production projects with ease. This ensures the reliability and timely delivery of the smart vehicle products for the FAW Jiefang J7 L3 project.

With competitive advantages such as high product performance, automotive-grade reliability, and mass production guarantee, Livox looks forward to collaborating with more partners in the future to provide better perception solutions and make smart driving a reality as soon as possible.

Together, Mobileye and WILLER are seeking to commercialize self-driving taxis and autonomous on-demand shared shuttles in Japan, while leveraging each other’s strengths. Mobileye will supply autonomous vehicles integrating its self-driving system and WILLER will offer services adjusted to each region and user tastes, ensure regulatory framework, and provide mobility services and solutions for fleet operation companies.

The two companies aim to begin testing robotaxis on public roads in Japan in 2021, with plans to launch fully self-driving ride-hailing and ride-sharing mobility services in 2023, while exploring opportunities for similar services in Taiwan and other Southeast Asian markets.

For Mobileye, the collaboration with WILLER advances the company’s global mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) ambitions. Since announcing its intention to become a complete mobility provider, Mobileye has begun a series of collaborations with cities, transportation agencies and mobility technology companies to develop and deploy self-driving mobility solutions in key markets. The agreement with WILLER builds on Mobileye’s existing MaaS partnerships. Examples include the agreement with Daegu Metropolitan City, South Korea, to deploy robotaxis based on Mobileye’s self-driving system, and the joint venture with Volkswagen and Champion Motors to operate an autonomous ride-hailing fleet in Israel. The collaboration with WILLER greatly expands and strengthens the company’s global MaaS ambition.

WILLER aims to unify user experiences across countries in the region; it released a MaaS app in 2019 and enabled a QR-code-based payment system this year. WILLER has partnered with Kuo-Kuang Motor Transportation, the largest bus operator in Taiwan, and Mai Linh, the largest taxi company in Vietnam, as well as invested in Car Club, a car-sharing service provider in Singapore. WILLER also partners with 150 local transportation providers in Japan. On top of these partnerships, WILLER will provide self-driving ride-hailing and ride-sharing services in the region and provide the best customer-ride experiences together with Mobileye.

The collaboration between WILLER and Mobileye will add a new transportation mode to the existing range of transportation services, including highway buses, railways and car-sharing. Adding self-driving vehicles, on-demand features and sharing services will improve customer ride experiences and address social challenges such as traffic accidents, congestion and, especially, the shortage of drivers and the challenges resulting from Japan’s aging society. Together Mobileye and WILLER will accelerate the social benefits of self-driving transportation solutions that contribute to higher quality of daily lives, making society smarter, safer and more sustainable.

Waymo is the exclusive L4 partner for Volvo Car Group. The companies will first work together with the intention to integrate Waymo’s fully self-driving technology – the Waymo Driver – into an all-new mobility-focused electric vehicle platform for ride-hailing services.

Working together, the companies plan to develop the most sophisticated and advanced computing architecture ever deployed in an automobile.

The new software-defined architecture will be built on the NVIDIA DRIVE platform and will be standard in Mercedes-Benz’s next-generation fleet, enabling state-of-the-art automated driving functionalities. A primary feature will be the ability to automate driving of regular routes from address to address. In addition, there will be numerous future safety and convenience applications. Customers will be able to purchase and add capabilities, software applications and subscription services through over-the-air software updates during the life of the car.

Phantom AI offers a flexible, automotive-grade ADAS solution on Renesas’ single, low-power R-Car V3H system-on-chip (SoC), which provides enough computing power to enable a Level 2 ADAS feature set and meets functional safety needs. This industry-leading full stack solution consists of three core products:

• PhantomVision : a highly scalable deep learning-based computer vision system that supports vehicle, pedestrian, bicyclist, free-space, traffic sign and traffic light detection.
• PhantomFusion : a platform independent sensor fusion and object tracking system that makes use of camera, radar and LiDAR and helps vehicles to keep track of anything surrounding them.
• PhantomDrive : a complete ADAS control system that enables features such as adaptive cruise control, lane centering and automatic lane change.

Phantom AI’s software provides OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers an opportunity to deploy ADAS solutions across various low- to mid-end vehicle platforms where development cost is a big concern for manufacturers. The software provides a reliable, cost-effective NCAP 2020 compliant solution with no impact on the system performance. Functional safety is a key ADAS requirement from vehicle manufacturers and collaboration with Renesas enables Phantom to deliver ISO26262-compliant solutions. Renesas provides a fully optimized and validated SOC / PMIC / timing chip set to reduce development efforts and bill of materials (BOM).  The integration of real-time core integration in an SoC, including full AUTOSAR support removing the need of external MCU, contributes to further BOM reduction.

The MoU will see both parties collaborate on the development of parts and components that are crucial and strategic to the ecosystem of local technology in the areas of Next-Generation Vehicles (NxGVs), connected mobility, and autonomous driving, which are also utilised in cross-industrial applications.

The initiative will commence with technological components including sensors such as Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR), cameras, recorders, and other electronic and mechatronic components.

EMG will provide Continental with legally compliant map data (including ADAS map and HD map) in China, a variety of general and customized functional services, including a fleet visualized management solution for its connected vehicle platform. All of these will optimize vehicle driving safety and operation efficiency, provide information for effective decision-making for fleet management, optimize transportation costs, and improve the efficiency of smart logistic operations. The cooperated solutions developed by both parties will also serve for various applications in the fields involving connected vehicle platforms and smart mobility.

Continental develops pioneering technologies and services for sustainable and connected mobility of people and their goods. Founded in 1871, the technology company offers safe, efficient, intelligent and affordable solutions for vehicles, machines, traffic and transportation. EMG is a top three map maker in China, has been working closely with Continental for a long time to provide intelligent location services, including map data and map service platforms. Based on the strength of Continental’s advanced products, technology advantages, engineering research and development experience in connected vehicle service, and EMG’s accumulated 16 years of experience in the map industry, the two parties have determined to cooperate in various forms in smart logistics (commercial vehicle), smart city scene application, and connected vehicle platform in the future.

Specifically, Tier IV plans to leverage the proven LGSVL Simulator to develop a full pipeline of online simulation solutions for Autoware. LG developed its LGSVL Simulator with the Unity engine to enable advanced autonomous driving simulation to help vehicle developers accelerate system development and testing for safer self-driving cars.  

Tier IV and LG are both founding members of The Autoware Foundation. The collaboration has already delivered deep integration of the LGSVL Simulator with Autoware. Tier IV has led core projects of The Autoware Foundation, including an application of the LGSVL Simulator to simulation-based testing and verification of Autoware on real services.

LeddarTech, with the support of First Sensor and other industry leaders, is developing the only open and comprehensive LiDAR platform option for OEMs and Tier1s. The platform provides the following benefits:

• A more complete and comprehensive set of solutions that addresses the requirements of OEMs and Tier1s;
• Common architectures as well as standardized components that ensure lower risk, improved production volume scalability, cost optimization and flexibility to address multiple LiDAR applications;
• A scalable platform roadmap ensuring increased performance and cost optimization;
• The ability to leverage leading and complementary IP, expertise, and support from technology leaders.

Overall, these benefits will increase the success for LeddarTech customers and provide the safest, most viable path to volume deployment for ADAS & AD applications.

LeddarTech and First Sensor will initiate this collaboration with the development of a LiDAR Evaluation Kit, demonstrating a technical concept in a working LiDAR and creating a tool for Tier 1s and system integrators to develop their own LiDAR based on LeddarEngine technology, First Sensor APDs, and additional ecosystem partners’ technologies, products, and services. The evaluation kit will be primarily targeting automotive front LiDAR applications for high-speed highway driving such as Highway Pilot and Traffic Jam Assist.

First Sensor is a leading supplier of high-performance Avalanche-Photodiodes and is developing the receiver submodule based on their APDs for the LIDAR evaluation kit. The receiver submodule leverages LeddarTech’s patented LeddarCore SoC and LeddarSP signal processing software to capture the reflected pulse coming from the objects in the field of view in order to provide time-of-flight data for rendering a 3D image that includes depth information.

As a part of its next generation mobility solutions to achieve Vision Zero, zero accidents and zero emissions, ZF Group announced its strategic collaboration with Israeli technology companies Cognata and OptimalPlus. These technology enterprises bolster ZF’s competence in the area of plant operations management, and the enhanced efficiency of ADAS validation operations.