In autonomous and connected vehicle news are Velodyne, DTS, CNXMotion and Cognata.
Velodyne Wins
Velodyne Lidar, Inc. announced its Velabit™ lidar sensor was named a winner in the Best of What’s New awards by Popular Science. The Velabit, Velodyne’s smallest sensor, brings new levels of versatility and affordability to 3D lidar perception. It is a cornerstone solution in Velodyne’s mission to transform lives by advancing safe mobility and smart communities through access to their innovative lidar technologies
DTS Announces DTS AutoSense
DTS®, a global leader in next-generation audio, imaging and sensing technology, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Xperi Holding Corporation announced that DTS AutoSense™ is the world’s first occupancy monitoring solution (OMS) to be designed into passenger vehicles projected to be on the road in 2021. The company also announced that DTS AutoSense was named the ‘Overall AutoTech Solution of the Year’ in the 2020 AutoTech Breakthrough Awards and a top safety pick in the 2020 CLEPA Innovation Awards.
DTS AutoSense Occupancy Monitoring System is dedicated to saving the lives of vehicle passengers and drivers and to improving the in-cabin experience. It is effective even if vehicle passengers/occupants are masked, and includes child seat detection, child presence detection, occupant detection, emotion detection, and passenger authentication.
In addition to the Occupancy Monitoring System (OMS), DTS AutoSense comprises a Driver Monitoring Solution (DMS). Working together the OMS and DMS provide insights into activity inside the vehicle, including the driver, passengers, pets and objects.
DTS AutoSense OMS uses a single camera and leverages the company’s extensive experience with image processing (20+ years) and artificial intelligence. Its advanced computer vision and machine learning techniques enable vehicles to sense, in real time, the presence of occupants and objects (for example, a laptop accidentally left in the vehicle). The technology can also enable personalization of infotainment recommendations, such as playlists, content, volume of music, choice of radio station options, in-cabin temperature adjustments or any setting that can be adapted to a user’s specific taste.
CNXMotion Premiers Brake-to-SteerTech
Leveraging technology building blocks from its parent companies Nexteer Automotive and Continental, CNXMotion announces Brake-to-Steer (BtS) – a technology that provides driver safety through an additional layer of directional control for highly automated and autonomous vehicles.
In highly automated vehicle applications, steering systems feature multiple protective layers to ensure the steering safety net is always on. In addition, BtS adds yet another layer by using the electronic brake system to safely steer the vehicle while simultaneously controlling its speed. In a fully autonomous vehicle with no steering wheel present, BtS will negotiate a commanded path until a safe pull-over can be achieved.
“Perhaps the most critical challenge in highly automated and autonomous driving is ensuring the robustness of system redundancies to keep drivers, passengers and road users safe,” explained Alan Davis, general manager of CNXMotion. “CNXMotion’s Brake-to-Steer technology offers another steering safety layer for a wide range of automated driving conditions.”
CNXMotion’s BtS technology offers a cost-effective way for automakers to achieve safety needs by leveraging the vehicle’s existing braking and steering systems.
“As we progress toward higher levels of automation in vehicles, secondary and tertiary redundancy becomes crucial in executing successful minimum risk maneuvers. This helps keep vehicle occupants and road users safe,” said Hiren Desai, Head of Strategy, Autonomous Mobility and Safety, Continental North America. “Cross-domain functionalities such as Brake-to-Steer are enabled by, and housed on, existing hardware, like Continental’s MKCx brake-by-wire systems, eliminating the need for additional, costly components.”
“While steering traditionally manages the lateral control of a vehicle, Brake-to-Steer enables braking to contribute to lateral control as well,” said Robin Milavec, Senior Vice President, Executive Board Director, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), Nexteer Automotive. “When combined with advanced steering systems like Nexteer’s High Availability Electric Power Steering or Steer-by-Wire, Brake-to-Steer gives an additional layer of redundancy – further enhancing the safety net.”
How Brake-to-Steer Works
The BtS function resides in the Motion Control System (MCS), which acts as an intermediary between the vehicle’s path planner (the automated driving system) and the actuators (steering, brakes and powertrain) to determine the best path forward.
Integrated with a Performance Manager, the vehicle’s intended path is compared to the system’s ability to steer the vehicle via BtS, while constantly negotiating the safest route ahead.
In the event that BtS needs to engage, BtS reacts in one of three ways:
- Continues on the intended path before ultimately moving to the first or second option,
- Performs a minimum risk maneuver, such as slowing and braking to steer the vehicle to the side of the road, or
- Stops in the lane.
Originally developed for steering redundancy in Level 4+ autonomy, the feature can be adapted to assist a driver in multiple scenarios for lower levels (Lane Keep, Obstacle Avoidance, etc.) while a driver is still present, following the intentions provided from the driver’s steering input.
ABOUT CNXMOTION (Pronounced: Con-nex-motion)
CNXMotion was established as a joint venture between Continental and Nexteer Automotive in 2017 to innovate motion control solutions for advanced applications and accelerate R&D activities for the parent companies. CNXMotion employs about 30 people in its state-of-the-art facility located in Grand Blanc, Michigan.
Nexteer and Continental hold an equal 50-50 percent ownerships.
Cognata Partners with Seoul Robotics
Cognata, Ltd., a leading provider of simulation software and training data for ADAS and autonomous vehicles, announced a partnership with South Korean based LiDAR perception Company – Seoul Robotics – to provide 3D point cloud synthetic data in order to boost Seoul Robotics LiDAR perception software technology.
The Partnership brings Cognata’s industry-leading synthetic datasets into boosting LiDAR perception development and enabling Seoul Robotics to accelerate their efforts on Automotive LiDAR training and Smart Cities LiDAR perception solutions