NAVYA and Valeo collaborate on safety systems to commercialize Level 4 autonomous vehicles

According to foreign media reports, autonomous driving system supplier NAVYA and automotive supplier VALEO announced that they will further expand their cooperation to participate in the fourth phase of the French government's investment project and combine their expertise to develop and design the future "Autonomous Vehicle Fail-Safe System (AVFS)".

(Image source: NAVYA)

“This unique project aims to ensure operational safety of autonomous transportation solutions, with a focus on designing fail-safe electronic systems that are essential for the commercialization of Level 4 autonomous vehicles,” said Sophie Desormière, CEO of NAVYA.

The fourth phase of the Future Investment Program (Programme d'Investissements d'Avenir, PIA4) is supported by the French government and aims to support companies at all stages of innovative development. Therefore, NAVYA and Valeo are working with global automakers to develop a unique system to achieve Level 4 fully automated driving.

The different phases of this R&D project ensure the system design, production and final evaluation of its concept. The technological building blocks that make up the AVFS will be connected to NavyaDrive®. Valeo will provide the latest generation sensors that meet automotive standards. Combined with an automated driving system embedded with all ISO standard algorithms, they will provide the expected safety redundancy and ensure a second control chain.

The system, which is made up of NavyaDrive®, LiDAR, radar and camera sensors and linked to the AVSF computer, will be responsible for ensuring the safety of passengers and road users. If unexpected situations on the route cause the automated driving system to exceed its operating range, the system will be able to adjust the vehicle completely autonomously, without the need for human intervention.

The project is the result of in-depth collaboration and co-construction around shared expertise and will provide state-of-the-art solutions for the development and commercialization of Level 4 autonomous driving vehicles.

Olivier Le Cornec, Chief Technology Officer at NAVYA, concluded: “This collaboration marks a key step towards the commercial scale of autonomous mobility services without a safety driver. By working together, we are able to offer an architecture based on two complementary systems, based on perception, localization and smart algorithms, that can provide the expected services and address all potential failures and deviations. These two systems, developed by Navya and Valeo, will allow us to offer commercial solutions that meet the highest demanding levels of automotive and regulatory environments around the world. Combined with the new base we are currently developing, this system will define the next generation of vehicles without a safety driver, enabling the transition to commercial scale.”