An advanced lidar technology for autonomous vehicles is being demonstrated by Volvo Cars, which offers new perception capabilities, including the ability to detect human poses and individual limbs.

Volvo Cars and Luminar, a startup in the development of core sensing technology for autonomous vehicles, brought the breakthrough technology to the Automobility LA tradeshow in Los Angeles, California, showing a level of detail not previously possible with a lidar sensor.

Its technology is able to detect limbs such as individual arms and legs, and it can detect objects at a range of up to 820ft (250m – much farther than current lidar technology.

Continue reading Volvo demonstrates advanced lidar concept for autonomous cars at ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International.

ThorDrive, a US-based AV startup that is introducing self-driving commercial vehicle services, has announced the beginning of a new trial and that it is using Velodyne lidar sensors to provide its vans with the highly accurate data required to support the pioneering pilot.

Retrofitted to its fleet of Ford vans, Velodyne lidars sensors will enable ThorDrive to provide a logistics service for a number of businesses across the United States, starting off in Palo Alto, California, where it will partner with Hassett ACE Hardware to support select residents of Channing House (senior housing) and fire departments.

“ThorDrive-powered commercial vehicle services demonstrate how Velodyne intelligent lidar sensors are helping companies place autonomous vehicles on the road today,” said Mike Jellen, president and CCO of Velodyne Lidar.

Continue reading Velodyne providing ThorDrive’s autonomous vehicle service with intelligent lidar sensors at ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International.

As the US Army seeks to modernize its methods by developing autonomous solutions for the battlefield, finding the hardware tough enough to survive the rigors of war is essential.

Crystal Group, a manufacturer of rugged computer and electronic hardware, has revealed its sensor fusion hardware and field-tested network solutions at a recent AUSA Army Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence expo in Detroit, Michigan, USA.

The company demonstrated its RACE0161, a high-performance, rugged embedded autonomous vehicle computer that harnesses modern commercial off-the-shelf components stabilized in a tough, compact enclosure to streamline and speed the development and deployment of safe, robust and reliable autonomous and unmanned vehicles and systems.

Continue reading New sensor fusion hardware for autonomous military vehicles revealed at ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International.

Jaguar Land Rover has developed new vehicle technology that will tell drivers when to speed up or slow down to enable them to avoid sitting at red traffic lights.

Its connected vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) uses a Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory (GLOSA) system, which is able to ‘talk’ to traffic lights to find out their light cycles and then feed back to individual cars what the appropriate speed is to keep traffic flow steady.

The system is intended to improve congestion and reduce emissions by preventing drivers either harshly accelerating to beat the lights or suddenly braking.

Continue reading Jaguar Land Rover unveils technology to help drivers avoid red traffic lights at ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International.

Plans to build Europe’s first Smart City Mobility Center in the UK, to test and develop future transportation systems including connected and driverless cars, has been announced.

The multi-million dollar project, which will be based at the University of Warwick’s Wellesbourne campus, will form a center that creates state-of-the-art autonomous technology and vehicle modular architectures, and prototype new vehicle systems.

Technology research projects at the Smart City Mobility Center will be able to benefit from regional developments of 5G being carried out by the West Midlands Combined Authority at the new £20m (US$25m) UK Mobility Data Institute.

Continue reading Plans for Europe’s first Smart City Mobility Center revealed at ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International.

Hyundai Mobis is utilizing high-definition software originally developed for 3D game development to conduct a series of autonomous driving tests for various scenarios, to enhance the performance of its autonomous driving sensor (camera).

As a result, the biggest automotive supplier in Korea expects to greatly improve the object recognition accuracy of the cameras it is proprietarily developing for autonomous vehicles.

“As it is possible to create the desired environment for testing without being limited by numerous constraints in real life, the performance of the cameras can be enhanced,” explained a company spokesperson.

The company’s technical centre in India recently entered into a contract with Tata Elxsi, an Indian software company that provides solutions optimised for ICT sectors, such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, big data and autonomous driving.

Continue reading Hyundai Mobis introduces autonomous driving test using 3D game technology at ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International.

The majority of the motoring world may be focusing on getting self-driving cars onto the road, but an effort to take autonomy onto alternative terrain is also well underway.

Drive settings, gear selection and maneuvering could all one day be handled by a computer. The aim, however, isn’t to take the fun out of off-roading, but to help develop smarter and safer AVs, whatever the weather.

This is the goal for Land Rover’s Cortex project, which is a bid to take learnings gleaned from the development of on-road autonomy, and apply it to alternative terrain. Using a 5D visualization system, the Cortex initiative, it is hoped, will deliver a car that can drive itself in any climatic condition, dealing with dirt, rain, ice, snow and fog.

Continue reading JLR’s Cortex Project and the future for off-road autonomy at ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International.

An advanced driver-assistance technology from GM called Super Cruise allows drivers of its Cadillac CT6 to reduce the fatigue of long-distance travel with a hands-off-on-the-highway system.

In development for more than five years, it relies on a fusion of radar, ultrasonic sensors, cameras and GPS, as well as two important additions that set the system apart from other Level 2 technologies – lidar map data and an innovative head tracking Driver Attention System (DAS) to ensure drivers are looking at the road ahead.

GM Super Cruise technology
The system uses a combination of sensors, cameras, GPS, and lidar maps to allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel on pre-mapped roads in the USA and Canada. 

Continue reading GM Super Cruise: How the hands-off driving technology works at ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International.

Tier 1 automotive suppliers Denso, Aisin, ADVICS and JTEKT have reached a basic agreement to establish a joint venture that will develop AV software for integrated ECUs.

The four companies will have stakes in the joint venture of 65%, 25%, 5% and 5%, respectively. Details still have to be finalized, but the aim is for the company to launch in March 2019.

The joint venture aims to develop software for integrated ECUs, which manage numerous functions, thus replacing multiple separate ECUs for sensors, brakes, steering and other components, thus improving the way these elements of the vehicle can work together.

Continue reading Denso, Aisin, ADVICS and JTEKT to collaborate on AV ECU software at ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International.

Quanergy has extended the standard warranty on its M8 lidar sensor to two years. It was also recently ISO 9001:2015 and IATF 16949 certified, approving it for automotive use.

“Quanergy’s M8 sensor has proven itself to be an industry leader across the criteria of performance, reliability and durability,” said Dr Louay Eldada, CEO and co-founder of Quanergy.

“Our decision to offer a standard two-year warranty on our M8 sensor is a demonstration of our team’s confidence in our product based on our certification testing and highly accelerated stress testing, as well as our broader commitment to ensuring a positive and seamless customer experience.”

By Illya Verpraet

Continue reading Warranty on Quanergy M8 lidar sensor extended to two years at ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International.