Mobileye teams with HERE on autonomous driving

Qoros to set up smart car R&D center in Israel

Netherlands company HERE and Mobileye have announced plans for a strategic partnership that links their respective autonomous driving technologies.

The two companies say they intend to pursue collaborative initiatives.

Mobileye`s Roadbook will be integrated as a data layer in HERE HD Live Map, HERE`s real-time cloud service for partially, highly and fully automated vehicles. Roadbook information will provide an important additional layer of real-time contextual awareness by gathering landmark and roadway information to assist in making a vehicle more aware of – and better able to react to – its surroundings, as well as allow for more accurate vehicle positioning on the road.

Mobileye will utilize the HERE Open Location Platform for the ingestion and processing of raw sensor and observation data (Road Segment Data, RSD), and the creation and dynamic maintenance of its Roadbook products. The HERE Open Location Platform is the next generation of HERE’s location platform, developed to support the ingestion, enrichment and processing of real-time location-based data for multiple industries, including the automotive industry.

HERE will utilize RSD, as well as the Global Roadbook, collected and aggregated from certain vehicle brands equipped with Mobileye technology to support change detection and the maintenance of HERE HD Live Map. Detecting changes in the real world and adjusting the map accordingly is critically important for automated vehicles to plan better driving strategies. With more sensor data available from car manufacturers equipped with Mobileye`s REM technology, the HERE HD Live Map will be updated even more quickly, achieving very short Time to Reflect Reality.

“We are building a state-of-the-art global HD map that is becoming the standard for autonomous driving and other IoT applications that need precise location-based information and services,” said Edzard Overbeek, CEO of HERE. “We are rapidly expanding this capability and I am very pleased that we can accelerate that work with Mobileye, a strategic partner that shares our view of where the automotive and other industries are going.”

“High-definition mapping is a key enabler for autonomous driving. Mobileye`s REM technology, enabling crowd-sourced data extraction, together with the backend processing of the Roadbook combined with HERE HD Live Map is critical to ensure dynamic, near realtime updates,” said Professor Amnon Shashua, chairman and CTO of Mobileye.

“We are pleased to work with HERE to create a “world HD-map” standard, leveraging the combined fleet size of certain vehicle brands initially, with the objective of eventually launching an industry-wide initiative.”

Meanwhile, Chinese auto manufacturer Qoros, controlled by Kenon Holdings Ltd and Chinese company Chery, is opening an auto R&D center in Israel aimed at developing a smart car, Qoros sources in China said. The measure is part of the company’s recently announced focus on rechargeable electric and hybrid cars and the development of autonomous driving technology. As part of this plan, Qoros recently set up a mobility division headed by its deputy CEO. The announcement in China stated that the R&D center in Israel would develop networks for charging electric vehicles, vehicle sharing, etc.

The first information on this development was reported in Globes in February this year, but Kenon did not comment on it. Chery and Kenon, controlled by Idan Ofer, announced in the past few days that they planned to inject 500 million yuan ($71 million) in order to enable the company to concentrate on an electric vehicle.

In China, Qoros CEO Chen Anning said, “The potential of the Chinese auto market and the urgent need for environmentally friendly vehicles are making China a global player in products and technologies for cars propelled by alternative energy. Our shareholders will continue to support the company in order to promote vehicles with alternative propulsion.”

Qoros plans to launch a fully electric car with a battery range of 350 kilometers in China this year, and will launch its second generation of vehicles based on electric propulsion, artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, and other innovations in 2020. The measure is part of the global auto industry’s broad focus on Israel and Israeli know-how in smart vehicles and related technologies.

General Motors already has a large R&D center in Israel, and Renault, Daimler, and other companies also conduct R&D in Israel. Qoros, which is mired in debt, can meanwhile take comfort in the fact that the important Chinese Autohome auto website rated its Qoros 5 four-wheel drive vehicle in first place in a quality review of dozens of selected models this year, including models made by Toyota, Lexus, Cadillac, BMW, and a series of Chinese brands. The review stated that Qoros’s vehicle had the fewest malfunctions per kilometer.