Continental and EasyMile team up for autonomous driving R&D

Automotive giant Continental has signed a deal with autonomous driving specialist EasyMile to create a joint R&D facility in Singapore. The combined team will work on solutions for driverless mobility, focusing on perception and deep learning, to prepare autonomous vehicle (AV) technology for tests. The companies call their memorandum of understanding a “stepping stone in a structured approach to AV testing on public roads in Singapore”. The city-state of Singapore is looking to AVs to improve its trans
November 16, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

Automotive giant 260 Continental has signed a deal with autonomous driving specialist 8246 EasyMile to create a
joint R&D facility in Singapore.

The combined team will work on solutions for driverless mobility, focusing on perception and deep learning,
to prepare autonomous vehicle (AV) technology for tests.

The companies call their memorandum of understanding a “stepping stone in a structured approach to AV
testing on public roads in Singapore”.

The city-state of Singapore is looking to AVs to improve its transport system, enhancing first- and last-
mile connectivity between peoples’ homes and nearby public transport nodes.

There is an existing AV test centre in Jurong Innovation District and several ongoing AV trials in the
metropolitan area.

In addition, ComfortDelGro is to test an EasyMile EZ10 autonomous shuttle at the National University of
Singapore’s Kent Ridge Campus, while 609 Volvo Buses has entered a two-year partnership with Nanyang
Technological University to test autonomous electric buses – both beginning early next year.

Singapore has also identified three towns for pilot deployment of AVs for public transport by the early
2020s.

Continental already has around 1,300 staff in Singapore.  “Our Singapore location is one of our largest R&D
locations in Asia already,” says Ralph Lauxmann, the group’s head of systems & technology. “With the joint
autonomous driving R&D team we have expanded the network.”

The companies say their results “can be used as a blueprint for the deployment of driverless systems in

other regions of the world”.

Gilbert Gagnaire, CEO of EasyMile, said the collaboration “is an important step to accelerate the
development of new technology for global markets as well as to benefit of the advance and dynamism of
Singapore’s autonomous driving ecosystem”.

Continental became a minority shareholder in the French company last year. EasyMile is involved in more
than 200 driverless projects in 24 countries. 

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Volvo to launch UK autonomous driving trial
    April 28, 2016
    Swedish car maker Volvo Cars is to begin an ambitious autonomous driving trial next year to speed up the introduction of a technology that promises to massively reduce car accidents as well as free up congested roads and save drivers valuable time. The company is pioneering the development of autonomous driving systems globally as part of its commitment that no one will be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo by the year 2020. The test will be called Drive Me London and will differentiate itself from
    Read More
  • Texas A&M offer free campus transport testing
    October 27, 2016
    Free evaluation and testing of transportation systems and products might seem too good to be true - but it isn’t. Colin Sowman reports. Texas A&M University is offering to host transport technology demonstrations and research projects free of charge at its Main and newly-renamed Rellis campuses. The initiative’s aim is to encourage those with technologies that could improve transportation to bring their products, systems and ideas to Texas A&M’s campus where they can be evaluated, tested and demonstrated.
    Read More
  • USDoT pilots show win-win potential for connected vehicles
    December 19, 2017
    Pete Goldin discovers the state of play with connected vehicles trials in the US and the impact of Hurricane Irma on Tampa’s pilot. The US Department of Transportation’s (USDoT’s) connected vehicle (CV) pilot sites have moved into phase 2 of the deployment programme– design, build, test and, maybe most importantly, collaborate.
    Read More
  • Continental: US road deaths are ‘public health crisis’
    June 6, 2019
    The 40,000 deaths on US roads last year amount to a ‘public health crisis’, according to Continental North America’s president Jeff Klei. Giving the opening keynote address at ITS America’s 28th Annual Meeting & Expo, Klei said: “If you could save 40,000 lives a year, would you? We believe this situation needs to be treated with the same priority as other health crises in this country.” But help is at hand, he said. The concept of ‘Vision Zero’, where there are no fatalities from crashes, “seems a lon
    Read More

Highlighted Content