NAVYA (FR0013018041- Navya), and VALEO are extending their collaboration and are combining their know-how as part of the French government’s 4th Investment Program for the Future to develop and design the future “Autonomous Vehicle Failsafe System” (AVFS).
Sophie Desormière CEO of NAVYA comments: “This unique project, defined as strategic to guarantee the operational safety of autonomous transport solutions, addresses the design of a failsafe electronic system essential for Level 4 autonomous vehicles commercialization“.
A decisive step in the industrialization of Level 4 autonomous transportation solutions
The 4th “Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir” (PIA4), supported by the French government, aims to assist companies at every stage of their innovative developments. In this context, NAVYA, a leader in autonomous mobility systems, and VALEO, an automotive supplier partner to all automakers worldwide, join forces in the development of a unique system to achieve complete autonomy for level 4 transport solutions.
An integrated, smart and redundant system, guaranteeing operational safety
The various stages of this R&D project ensure the design of such a system, its realization, and a final evaluation of the concept.
The technological building blocks that compose the AVFS (Autonomous Vehicle Failsafe System) connect to the NavyaDrive. VALEO will supply its latest generation of sensors aligned with automotive standards. Combined with the autonomous driving system embedded containing all the ISO-standard algorithms, they will provide the expected safety redundancy and ensure a second control chain.
This system, composed of the NavyaDrive, LiDAR, radar and camera sensors, associated with the AVSF computer, will be responsible for ensuring the safety of passengers and road users. In the event of an incidental situation on the route that causes the autonomous driving system to go out of its operating range, it will be able to adapt the vehicle’s behavior in complete autonomy, without human intervention.
This project is the result of a deep collaboration and co-construction around shared expertise and will offer the state-of-the-art solution for the development and commercialization of autonomous level 4 vehicles.
Joachim Mathes, CTO of Valeo Comfort and Driving Assistance, states: “We are excited to deepen our partnership with Navya in this project. It is an opportunity to leverage the experience in AD systems, safety and SOTIF (“Safety Of The Intended Functionality”) gained from our Drive4U projects and from the operation of Navya shuttles in the SMO project. Within PIA4, we plan to take autonomous urban mobility to the next level together”.
Olivier Le Cornec, CTO of NAVYA, concludes: “This cooperation marks a key step in the commercial scale-up of our autonomous mobility services without a safety driver. It allows us to offer an architecture based on two complementary systems, based on perception, localization and intelligence algorithms, which can provide the expected service and addressing all potential failures and drifts. These two systems, developed by major and recognized players in their industry, Navya and Valeo, will enable us to deliver a commercial solution to the highest required level of automotive and regulatory environment worldwide. Combined with our new rolling bases currently under development, it will define our future generation of vehicles without a safety driver, enabling the transition to commercial scale“.