Component suppliers Mobileye and Delphi announced on Tuesday a new partnership, called Central Sensing Localization and Planning (CSLP), that aims to have a driverless system road ready by the end of 2019.
The two firms will share technology to build the driverless system, which we assume will be licensed to automotive manufacturers. Delphi will supply the hardware—radar, LiDAR, and cameras—Mobileye will provide real-time mapping, a mobile vision system, and multi-domain controller.
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Automotive manufacturers already outsource most of the nuts and bolts manufacturing to third-party suppliers. In the age of self-driving, more sensors and computers will be installed into cars, which we expect auto firms to outsource.
Mobileye and Delphi plan to show off the technical achievements at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017, which will take place in January. Urban and highway self-driving will be demoed at the event.
The two firms plan to do extensive testing of the self-driving system, with the end goal of market ready Level 4 and Level 5 automation.
Delphi and Mobileye save-the-date hits a full calendar
Predictions of full autonomy tech in vehicles have been coming fast and furious over the last three months.
Elon Musk has hinted Tesla will get to full autonomy within months. Currently, Tesla’s AutoPilot feature could be categorized as Level 2 or Level 3 automation, depending on how you interpret Tesla’s comments on the self-driving system’s capabilities. Level 4 is the next stage, also known as “mind off,” where users don’t need to be aware of what’s happening on the road.
Level 5 is fully driverless; where the only human interaction is plotting the route. That may take some time to be approved by regulators, most automotive firms are looking at 2021 as the year of full autonomy.
Delphi is already testing Level 3 self-driving in Singapore, announcing a few weeks ago that it will start shuttle tests in the city state. Mobileye has also made moves into the autonomous world, partnering with BMW and Intel to build the autonomous iNext car, slated for a 2021 release.
