Groupe Renault today announced the signature for the acquisition of a 35 percent stake in a new joint venture, Autonomous Vehicle Simulation (AVS), formed together with Oktal, a subsidiary of Sogeclair, a French aerospace and simulation company based in Toulouse, France. This step will allow Renault and the Renault-Nissan Alliance to continue delivering a menu of advanced technologies by furthering autonomous vehicle development testing in a virtual environment.
“This acquisition supports Groupe Renault’s strategy to deliver the vehicle of the future: electric, connected and autonomous. We are very pleased to partner with Oktal to form AVS and thereby support French innovation. This partnership will help us to speed up building our offer of new services and improve our customer experience”, said Gaspar Gascon, Executive Vice President, Product Engineering of Groupe Renault.
The newly formed AVS partnership will also benefit the Renault-Nissan Alliance, which has committed to launch more than 10 vehicles with autonomous capabilities by 2020.
The Alliance has already engaged in the virtual testing of Autonomous vehicles using SCANeRTM simulation software, originally invented by Renault, that was co-developed with Oktal.
“Along with Renault’s investment, we will significantly accelerate the development of SCANeR Studio’s new features dedicated to the Autonomous/Connected vehicle”, said Laurent Salanqueda, CEO of OKTAL.
Renault and Sogeclair invest in AVS
Building on more than 15 years of collaborative development at Renault, the formation of AVS will further enhance product development using driving simulators. This new joint venture will acquire the automotive assets of Sogeclair’s Oktal subsidiary, which will be transferred to the newly formed company.
Simulation testing has become strategic for the automotive industry with the widespread use of assistive technologies and autonomous cars.
Fleet testing and simulation go hand in hand with developing autonomous vehicles. In order to achieve the targeted level of reliability, test vehicles must accumulate a vast number of kilometers, which would normally take many years of driving. Along with fleet tests and accelerated testing methods, simulation with virtual testing is helpful to accelerate the process and accommodate it within a project timeline.
The new developments in products and services aim to strengthen the position of SCANeR simulation software as the world leader.
