RideFlux said on the 7th that it signed a memorandum of understanding with commercial vehicle maker Tata Daewoo Mobility on the 3rd to jointly develop Level 2+ driver assistance systems and Level 4 autonomous driving technology for commercial vehicles.
Under the agreement, the two companies will install RideFlux's software covering five core highway functions in Tata Daewoo's Maxen and Gooseon heavy-duty trucks and move toward mass production of a Level 2+ driver assistance system. RideFlux will develop driver control assistance system software that meets the international UN R171 standard and fit it to Tata Daewoo's trucks.
The Level 2+ system provides integrated control of a vehicle's longitudinal and lateral movement, including lane keeping, lane changes, merging and diverging, overtaking and passing through tollgates. Once the system reaches mass production, RideFlux plans to build a data feedback loop that uses real driving data collected from vehicles sold to improve Level 2+ performance and validate Level 4 technology at the same time.
The companies also laid out plans for fully driverless Level 4 commercial service. RideFlux is discussing with Tata Daewoo a plan to mass-produce fully driverless Level 4 trucks. The two sides will also link their work to the software-defined vehicle architecture of Tata Motors, Tata Daewoo's parent company and the largest commercial vehicle maker in India, to build a foundation for entering the global commercial vehicle market together.
"This agreement is a milestone in RideFlux's full-scale expansion into the business-to-business market," RideFlux CEO Park Joong-hee said. "We will achieve both mass-production of Level 2+ systems and commercialization of Level 4 in the global commercial vehicle market."
