Tata Elxsi’s ‘Autonomai’ platform hosting driverless car project

Tata Elxsi, a global design and technology services company and a leader in automotive electronics and software development, is hosting the development and prototype testing of autonomous cars that are awaiting necessary regulatory approvals.

Bangalore-based Tata Elxsi said it has licensed its advanced autonomous vehicle middleware platform 'Autonomai' to one of the world's leading automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for their driverless car project.

The 'Autonomai' platform provides carmakers and Tier 1 automotive suppliers with a comprehensive and modular solution covering perception, GNC and drive-by-wire systems, to quickly build, test and deploy autonomous vehicles.

This solution supports sensor fusion with a variety of sensors from cameras to radar and lidar, and leverages sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning based algorithms to deliver the complex use-case scenarios expected of driverless cars.

Autonomai also allows rapid region specific adaptation through its pre-integrated validation datasets and AI and deep learning capabilities.

''Car makers will need to ensure that self-driving cars are able to communicate with each other through technologies such as V2X, adapt to different driving conditions, receive real-time maps and over-the-air software updates. As importantly, OEMs need to transform the current HMI to one that leverages AI, multi-modal interfaces and sensors to ensure passengers are not only safe, but feel safe too,'' said Nitin Pai, senior vice president (marketing) for Tata Elxsi.

''The value of Autonomai is further enhanced by Tata Elxsi's world-class automotive software integration and validation capabilities, its portfolio of complementary next-gen solutions, including V2X, e-cockpit and automated validation, and an award-winning HMI design team. This makes Tata Elxsi a truly compelling partner for OEMs and suppliers in driverless car development,'' he added.

Supported by a network of design studios, development centres and offices worldwide, Tata Elxsi addresses the automotive, broadcast and communications, consumer electronics and healthcare industries.

Tata Elxsi works with leading OEMs and suppliers in the automotive and transportation industries for R&D, design and product engineering services from architecture to launch and beyond.

With domain experience across infotainment, autonomous driving, telematics, powertrain, and body electronics, along with technologies such as artificial intelligence, analytics, cloud and IoT. Tata Elxsi is accredited with an Automotive SPICE Level 5 certification and is a member of leading consortiums such as AUTOSAR and GENIVI.

A BloombergQuint report quoting Pai said the autonomous cars have two software blocks – one for perception and the other for guidance, navigation and control system.

The software layer used for perception works with any kind of sensor which may be an ultrasonic, radar, lidar or camera sensor. The platform takes in inputs from these sensors with each input processed differently. Data would then be processed through algorithms and fused in a fusion engine. This becomes the car's perception system.

The perception system is the eyes, ears, touch and feel of the car. What it's really doing is that through its sensors, it is seeing the world around and making judgements and conclusions about the environment outside.

The second block of software used for guidance, navigation and control takes decisions based on additional data which comes from the Global Positioning System (GPS) or additional systems built in the car in case GPS fails. The initial measurement unit, the GPS and maps form the remaining data that the car's brain needs to have in addition to what the sensors are seeing. The perception and GNC systems together drive the car.

Tata Elxsi management has kept the name of the OEM and remuneration through licensing undisclosed for now.

Shares of the company gained over 10 per cent to close at Rs1,492.10 on the NSE.