Magna unveils latest high-tech self-driving car platform
As automotive suppliers race to develop safe self-driving technology, Magna International Inc. is hoping to jump in front by developing a new autonomous driving platform that can be integrated with any vehicle.
The Aurora, Ont.-based company unveiled its Max4 platform in Germany on Thursday, an integrated and scalable autonomous platform that uses a combination of camera, RADAR, LiDAR, and ultrasonic sensors that it says can be paired with any vehicle, without a monstrous roof sensor and a cargo full of technology.
“At the heart of this development is a desire to show the market Magna’s breadth of capabilities and an autonomous driving enabling platform with subsystems that do not compromise the interior and exterior of a vehicle,” Swamy Kotagiri, Magna’s chief technology officer, said in a statement.
Magna says the platform is formed by Level 4 autonomous driving capabilities which, according to the Society of Automotive Engineers, is a high level of automation where the system performs all functions of driving, except for inputting a destination.
One of the innovations of Magna’s Max4 system includes a cruise-control- like button that allows drivers to engage the autonomous capabilities, and an option to disengage using the break pedal or an emergency button.
Mohamed Atia, an associate professor at Carleton University’s department of ethics, said the development is a significant step toward standardization of self-driving platforms.
“Every party has specific approaches to develop the selfdriving car platform ... and we see a lot of difficulties in compatibility, in consistency and many other aspects,” Atia said. “To have this platform standardized is a very big step.”
Magna also said the platform is scalable for high-volume production. The enabler subsystem that make up the platform are either fully or nearly production ready.
However, Atia said that while the platform does not include the bulky sensors often seen atop self-driving cars, companies developing such platforms still have a long way to go in terms of making it smaller. “We’re still far away from having reasonably compact platform hardware,” he said.