Increasing safety on level 4 autonomous vehicles, Navya and Valeo form all-French partnership

Autonomous mobility specialist Navya and primary automotive supplier Valeo join forces in an all-French partnership aimed at developing advanced safety systems for level 4 autonomous vehicles. The whole project was established under the umbrella of the so-called 4th Investment Program for the Future promoted by the French government.

Navya and Valeo integrating mutual know-how

The various stages of the 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 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

Sophie Desormière, CEO of NAVYA

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.

Taking autonomous urban mobility to the next level

«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», stated Joachim Mathes, CTO of Valeo Comfort and Driving Assistance.

«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», added Olivier Le Cornec, CTO of Navya.