Automation is now in demand in every industry, especially in the car manufacturing sector. Mobileye is one of the popular suppliers of vision technology in the autonomous driving industry because of its advanced technology. Eventually acquired by Intel in 2017, it started as an expansion of Amnon Shashua‘s research on detecting vehicles through software algorithms and a camera.
Additionally, to supports Mobileye’s goal as an autonomous mobility provider, Intel also acquired Moovit in 2020. Now, its future goal is to support fully and semi-autonomous driving; its system-on-chip (SoC) currently supports Advances Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) functions.
The Mobileye strategy
With its realistic, scalable go-to-market strategies, Mobileye has three pillars. The first is having a camera-centric configuration designed for a self-driving system. Here, the cameras allow the vehicles to drive safely while keeping them cost-effective.
The next pillar is the ADAS programs that undergo stringent safety testing. This ensures that the technological building blocks of autonomous vehicles are validated. Mobileye claims that more than 60 million vehicles on roads today consist of its ADAS programs.
Lastly, it has a Road Experience Management that acts as a high-definition map. Here, the HD map is updated through crowd-sourcing to ensure precise localization of the vehicles.
The goal
Mobileye utilizes crowdsourcing, deep learning, AI, and other new technology to support the pillars of its strategy. These technologies are essential to creating the software and hardware it provides to its over 25 OEM partners.
One of Mobileye’s partners is the world’s third-largest public transportation operator based in Paris, the RATP Group. It works by having an autonomous robotaxis that the Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann employees use to have a ride. This is similar to the automated transportation called Next.
Mobileye has also collaborated with the leading international mobility services provider called Sixt SE which launched a self-driving robotaxi service in Germany. Unlike in Paris, which has a safety driver behind each robotaxi, the ones in Germany authorized self-driving taxis without safety drivers.
However, the safety of having autonomous vehicles on the road is still a threat to the full implementation of driverless cars. Mobileye has developed Responsibility-Sensitive Safety (RSS) to solve such issues, which has formal logic and rules on safety. Here, the vehicles are programmed to the following:
- Have a safe distance between other cars
- Avoid unsafe cut-ins
- Adhere to the right of way rules
- Be cautious in areas with limited visibility
- Avoid crashes without causing another one
Mobileye aims to let everyone understand that automated vehicles can drive safely alongside people through these five safety rules.
Photo credit: The images used are owned by Intel and have been provided for press usage.
Source: Ingrid Lunden (TechCrunch)
