Autonomous technology company Mobileye has received an automated vehicle (AV) testing permit recommendation from the independent technical service provider, TUV SUD, which will allow the company to perform AV testing anywhere in Germany, including urban and rural areas as well as the Autobahn.
As one of the leading companies in the field of safe and secure automated driving, TUV SUD enabled Mobileye to obtain approval from German authorities by validating the vehicle and functional safety concepts of Mobileye’s AV test vehicle.
Johann Jungwirth, vice president, Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), Mobileye said, “Mobileye is eager to show the world our best-in-class self-driving vehicle technology and safety solutions as we get closer to making safe, affordable self-driving mobility solutions and consumer vehicles a reality. The new AV Permit provides us an opportunity to instill even more confidence in autonomous driving with future riders, global automakers and international transportation agencies. We thank TUV SUD for their trusted collaboration as we expand our AV testing to public roads in Germany.“
Until now, autonomous vehicle test drives in Germany have mainly taken place in closed or simulated environments and Mobileye is one of the first non-OEM companies to receive a permit to test AVs on open roads in Germany.
Patrick Fruth, CEO Division Mobility, TUV SUD added that, “With the TUV SUD AV-permit we bring in our broad expertise as a neutral and independent third party on the way to safe and secure automated mobility of the future. Our demanding assessment framework and test procedure considers state-of-the-art approaches to safety and combines physical real-world tests and scenario-based simulations.”
Mobileye recently acquired Moovit, a leading MaaS solutions company, and has had recent collaborations to test and deploy self-driving vehicles in France, Japan, Korea and Israel. The new testing permit strengthens Mobileye’s growing global leadership position as an AV technology as well as complete mobility solutions provider, says the company.
According to the company, the Mobileye SDS is comprised of the industry’s most advanced vision sensing technology, True Redundancy with two independent perception sub-systems, crowd-sourced mapping in the form of Road Experience Management (REM) and its pioneering Responsibility-Sensitive Safety (RSS) driving policy.
Although the first tests of AVs using Mobileye’s SDS will be completed in Munich, the company plans to also perform AV testing in other parts of Germany. In addition, Mobileye expects to scale open-road testing in other countries before the end of 2020.
In order to obtain the authorisation, Mobileye-powered AV test vehicles underwent a series of rigorous safety tests and provided comprehensive technical documentation. Part of the application also included a detailed hazard analysis, vehicles safety and functional safety concepts and proof that the cars can be safely integrated into public road traffic – an assessment that was made possible using Mobileye’s RSS.
