Pitching itself as ‘the automotive tech company’, Valeo used its presence at CES 2016 to underline its expertise in the connected car field. The supplier is intent on moving forward with new acquisitions and collaborations, and will use 2016 to take advantage of several key automotive industry trends.
Speaking to Automotive World, Jean-Francois Tarabbia, Senior Vice President R&D and Product Marketing at Valeo, discussed these trends, and emphasised the need to diversify the supplier’s collaborative partnerships in order to keep pace with automotive technology development.
Connected, connected, connected
“The future of the car is connectivity,” Tarabbia remarked. “There will be no autonomous cars without connectivity. There will be no safety without connectivity. Drivers and passengers won’t enjoy the time in the car without being connected. So connectivity is the key to the future.”
There will be no autonomous cars without connectivity. There will be no safety without connectivity. Drivers and passengers won’t enjoy the time in the car without being connected. So connectivity is the key to the future.
To this end, Valeo has been expanding its capabilities with several collaborations and acquisitions. In December 2015, the supplier acquired Peiker, a company based in Germany that has experience in vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) applications. Valeo said it intends to use the acquisition to develop new telematics systems equipped with high-speed connectivity and cyber security features. As a result, Tarabbia said that the company has become “number two in the world” with V2X technologies.
Connectivity lies at the heart of other Valeo partnerships, including its connected fleet activity with Capgemini, of which more later; and with Safran, a company focused on aerospace, defence and security, which has worked with Valeo on facial recognition, connectivity and automation.
No automation without connectivity
On the subject of automation, Valeo’s focus in 2016 is on promoting its Cruise4U partially automated demonstration vehicle, following its successful drive, in November 2015, of more than 10,000km (6,213 miles) through France, with only human monitoring.
Partial automation refers to the driver selecting whether to drive or to monitor the car as it drives, with Valeo Cruise4U managing steering, acceleration and braking. The system combines the supplier’s SCALA laser scanner with a forward-facing camera to assess the road ahead.
Emphasising the importance of collaboration, Cruise4U was developed out of partnerships with Ibeo, which contributed to the SCALA laser scanner technology, Mobileye, which contributed to the forward-facing camera, and IAV, which helped with system development and integration.
To facilitate its vision of partial automation, Valeo has developed what it sees as the necessary human-machine interface (HMI): the Mobius cockpit. Now in its second iteration, Mobius 2 has been designed to ensure the smooth transfer of control between driver and vehicle, depending on the appropriateness of the driving mode.
When automated driving is identified as suitable, the system indicates to the driver to activate the hands-free mode using the steering wheel-mounted automatic pilot controls. Appropriate driving situations might include slow city traffic or highway conditions. When the vehicle is in automated driving mode, the dashboard display becomes an extension of the driver’s smartphone or tablet, enabling the driver to use their time enjoying the same connected services as they would away from the vehicle. Still in the driver’s seat, and at the wheel, the driver is in position should there be a need to retake control; this would be identified by Mobius 2, which would emit a visual and audio alert. And the driver will know what is going on around the car, even without having been in control, thanks to space on the interface that keeps the driver informed about the surrounding environment in real time.
In the Cloud
Cloud-based technology will play an increasingly important role in connectivity, said Tarabbia, referring to Valeo’s InBlue solution for corporate fleets and car rental companies. The system uses Capgemini’s customised digital services, and allows drivers to lock, unlock and start their cars using smartphones. They can also transfer vehicle data on a secure Cloud-based platform. According to a recent Capgemini report, remote locking and unlocking applications are growing in demand, and will continue on an upwards trajectory with the next generation of connected cars.
Tarabbia admitted that Valeo has no specific solution when it comes to Cloud-based technology, and is open to working with any Cloud technology provider. He said the supplier would remain flexible in this area, and is ready to work with other companies to move forward.
With solutions for partial automation and its hands-free HMI, Valeo’s portfolio contains key building for automated driving. A core requirement is mapping, an area in which the company is happy to collaborate, as Tarabbia affirmed: “We are very happy that HERE has been bought by three German OEMs.” The formerly Nokia-owned digital mapping and location business is now controlled by a consortium made up of Audi, BMW Group and Daimler.
“It leaves the company open to work with anyone,” he added. “We are ready to use the maps of others who provide them to the market.”
Look and listen: driver monitoring and voice control
Tarabbia emphasised a number of technologies essential for Valeo’s connectivity strategy. Voice recognition systems, for example, have been adopted by various OEMs for a number of years, but he believes the current systems could be improved, becoming more efficient and passenger-friendly; to illustrate his point, he described a scenario in which passengers are sleeping and the driver wishes to use voice-recognition services.
“How can voice recognition be used without waking these passengers, or disturbing them? There are many reasons why sometimes drivers won’t want to use voice-recognition,” he said. Gesture recognition could be a way around this. It could complement voice recognition software, and allow drivers to give important instructions to the vehicle. Gesture control also overcomes a number of issues like pronunciation, dialect and cabin noise.
How can voice recognition be used without waking these passengers, or disturbing them? There are many reasons why sometimes drivers won’t want to use voice-recognition
A growing number of opportunities in these areas means that voice and gesture recognition technologies will be important for Valeo in the future. However, using these systems poses safety issues, making driver monitoring devices essential.
“We need to understand how drivers behave: whether they are paying attention, whether they are sleeping, whether they are comfortable, and whether they are looking at the road,” he observed. Using cameras to monitor driver behaviour will be a key enabler for several technologies, Tarabbia added.
Valeo’s Mobius system uses a camera with pupil tracking technology to monitor the driver. It allows motorists to switch between automated and manual driving modes by analysing driving conditions and using a camera to monitor driver behaviour. If the conditions are favourable, like during a city traffic jam, the system can suggest the driver uses automated driving; as soon as it anticipates the need for the driver to retake control of the vehicle, it emits the alert as referred to earlier.
Growth through innovation
Innovation lies at the heart of vehicle product development, said Tarabbia, when asked about Valeo’s strategy for future products. “We are convinced that we can grow only through innovation,” he explained. “35% of our order intake is based on new products. R&D to develop new technologies is really at the core of Valeo’s strategy.”
Around 10% of the supplier’s OEM sales are re-invested in R&D, Tarabbia continued. The supplier filed 1,108 patents in 2014, up 40% over 2013; and based on 2014 data, the 35% share of its order backlog that Tarabbia referred to was for products that did not exist three years earlier.
However, the company cannot do everything internally, and partnerships with other companies are becoming increasingly important, like those with Peiker, Mobileye and Capgemini. “We are convinced that we cannot do everything, because technology is developing so quickly. This is really where we apply open innovation, and cement partnerships with universities, start-ups and OEMs.”
The trend towards acquisition and collaboration, says Tarabbia, is driven by a combination of growing consumer expectation and the rapid evolution of technology. Selecting companies to work with can be challenging, but he thinks that certain small start-up companies show particular promise, due to their ability to take risks and to launch new ideas and technologies.
Aledia, for example, develops and manufactures innovative light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on a unique 3D architecture. Valeo acquired some shares in the company because it believes it can benefit from that company’s technology, affirmed Tarabbia. Looking forward, he said he thinks that the number of collaborations between companies like Valeo and small start-ups will continue to grow, which will increase competition and consumer expectation.
He also underlined the benefits of looking outside of the automotive industry for possible partnerships. For example, in September 2013, Valeo announced its partnership with Safran. “We cooperate in technology that they can use for their aerospace business and that we can use for automotive. It is a win-win situation, and allows us to benefit from a vast collection of good ideas,” explained Tarabbia.
Valeo conducts its connectivity activities through the Comfort and Driving Assistance (CDA) Systems Business Group. In 2015, CDA sales were up 13% to €2.7bn, equivalent to 18% of Group sales, reflecting the company’s prediction that, ‘Tomorrow’s car will be more and more automated and increasingly connected.’
This article is part of an exclusive Automotive World report on connected cars. Follow this link to download a copy of ‘Special report: Connected cars‘
