Commsignia Announces Funding of USD 15M in Series B Round
SANTA CLARA, Calif., 5 September, 2023 – Commsignia, Inc., the largest company focusing on Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) solutions, announced the closing of an USD 15 million Series B fundraising round led by PortfoLion Capital Partners, Inventure, Day One Capital and Inference Partners, together with Partech, Credo Ventures, and Karma Ventures. The fundraising round sees LG Electronics joining as a strong strategic partner along with existing strategic investors Samsung Catalyst Fund and Qualcomm Ventures. With this investment, the company aims to strengthen its leadership and grow faster in new markets and geographies as the digital transformation of the transport and automotive industry gains momentum.
The move comes at a time when road safety is in focus all over the globe. V2X can effectively prevent accidents by enabling communication between road users. They can be made digitally visible to each other, even in situations where visibility is obstructed, which is particularly dangerous for pedestrians, bikers and micromobility users. According to a study by the European Commission, C-ITS can help reduce the number of accidents by as much as 22% and can help save on fuel consumption by 11%.1
The world’s leading car manufacturers, policy makers, and the transport industry in the US, Europe and China have expressed their trust in V2X as a technology that can effectively save lives through decisions and measures that opened up the way to full-scale deployments.
Commsignia is the largest company fully dedicated to V2X with over 140 employees. The company’s V2X products connect the entire traffic ecosystem, working together with partners in the automotive sector as well as those from the infrastructure operator side.
With a presence in the world’s automotive hubs in the US, Germany and South Korea, Commsignia is a V2X technology provider to several automotive OEMs and Tier1 companies. The company has mass production deals with multiple automotive OEMs and is also a partner in pioneering research projects with the world’s leading automakers including for example Volkswagen2, Audi of America3 and Ford4.
On the operator side, Commsignia and its partners have covered hundreds of intersections across the United States, Europe and Asia with V2X, contributing to increasing road safety in cities and regions, like Las Vegas, Denver and broader Colorado, the Italian motorways, and highways in Czechia.
As a result, drivers, riders and self-driving vehicles can make better decisions using real-time cooperative sensor data. Commsignia is building the operating system for connected transport by providing all elements of a digital road infrastructure.
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SzabolcsPatay
Chief Executive Officer / Founder
We see this investment as a confirmation from our key strategic partners on our technology leadership. It gives us and our customers confidence: Commsignia plays a significant role in the growth of the digital transport infrastructure and the connected vehicle ecosystem. This investment reinforces our ecosystem strategy which covers all segments of mobility and connected infrastructure services, to enable more people to use our world-class V2X products to improve sustainability, efficiency, equity and safety in transportation. – says Szabolcs (Szabi) Patay, CEO of Commsignia.
Jenő Nieder, Deputy CEO of PortfoLion Capital Partners
“Portfolion made a solid investment decision to Commsignia and the management team leading the company. The company’s product brings visible value with the promise of decreased energy consumption and less road accidents. They have already successfully delivered real life projects in cities and motorways to returning clients. Commsignia is trusted by the largest US and European car manufacturers and has already built great partnership with leading brands.”
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Timo Tirkkonen, Partner and Co-Founder at Inventure
“Autonomous vehicles, and the rise of micromobility and a growing focus on road safety are trends that will extensively shape the automotive in the coming years – and V2X is a key tech that lies in their intersection. We are thrilled to take part in fuelling the growth of this life saving technology through domain leader Commsignia, and look forward to making mobility safer, smarter, and more sustainable” – added Timo Tirkkonen, Partner and Co-Founder at Inventure.
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Csaba Kákosy, Managing Partner of Day One Capital
“We couldn’t be more proud of the Commsignia team. They have not only scaled the company to become one of Hungary’s largest startups, marking their place as a global player in smart mobility, but they have also navigated challenges and adversities with the adeptness that only the best companies display.” – added Csaba Kákosy, Managing Partner of Day One Capital.
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Endre Sagi, General Partner of Inference Partners
Since the start of our collaboration a decade ago, Commsignia has firmly established itself as the global market leader in V2X. Their relentless pursuit of pioneering advancements in connected vehicle technology and the enormous market potential have made our decision to co-lead their Series B round very easy. – added Endre Sagi, General Partner of Inference Partners.
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Andrej Kiska, General Partner of Credo Ventures
“We established Credo over 13 years ago with the belief that Central Europeans can build category-leading companies. And Commsignia is a strong testament to that belief: superb team coupled with superb technology, set to dominate the V2X market for years to come.” – says Andrej Kiska, General Partner of Credo Ventures.
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Kristjan Laanemaa, Founding Partner at Karma Ventures
“At Karma Ventures we have been privileged to work with the Commsignia founding team after we led the company’s A-round and are proud to have supported them on the journey to date. We look forward to seeing the Commsignia solutions rolling through to mass production in the near future and making roads safer.” – said Kristjan Laanemaa, Founding Partner at Karma Ventures.
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Lee Sang-yong, senior vice president of R&D Laboratory at LG Electronics Vehicle component Solutions (VS) Company
“V2X communication technology is essential for making autonomous driving a reality,” said Lee Sang-yong, senior vice president of R&D Laboratory at LG Electronics Vehicle component Solutions (VS) Company. “Through our strategic investment in Commsignia, we expect to lead the connected car era in the coming future, as we mutually strengthen our competitiveness in V2X communication technology.”
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Boaz Peer, Senior Director, Qualcomm Israel Ltd. and Managing Director of Qualcomm Ventures Israel and Europe
“V2X technology paves the way for smarter, safer, and more efficient transportation,” says Boaz Peer, Senior Director, Qualcomm Israel Ltd. and Managing Director of Qualcomm Ventures Israel and Europe. “Commsignia is an important player in the V2X ecosystem, and we are happy to invest in their journey towards further growth and success.”
Commsignia is the largest company focusing on vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology. The company unlocks the full potential of Intelligent Transport Systems and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems with cutting edge V2X software and hardware products and services to improve road safety and efficiency for all road users and enable value-added services in the vehicle industry.
Commsignia’s V2X solutions allow road owners and operators to gain real-time traffic insights from connected sensors and cameras to better protect a wide range of connected and nonconnected road users, including pedestrians and cyclists. V2X-enabled smart intersections provide traffic priority services for emergency responders, city fleets, and V2X is an essential component for self-driving.
Commsignia enables automotive manufacturers, micromobility providers and bicycle manufacturers to cost-effectively deliver improved road safety and better driving experience for their customers by joining the V2X ecosystem. V2X connects road users with each other and with roadside equipment to support them with information through sensor sharing and ensure confident, safe and comfortable driving.
Commsignia announces the OBU Lite for bicycles and micromobility
Commsignia today announced the OBU Lite vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device for electric bicycles and micromobility to improve the visibility and safety of vulnerable road users in traffic. With the OBU Lite, Commsignia is now offering solutions for the complete V2X-based digital transport ecosystem.
Road deaths among cyclists are rising at an alarming rate, with fatalities increased by 11 percent in 2022 according to NHTSA statistics. V2X-enabled cars, bicycles and other road users are aware of each other without being in each other’s line of sight, and this mutual awareness means people can make better decisions and avoid injuries from risky or unexpected situations.
The erroneous judgment of drivers represent 40percent, while errors in perception and detection alone accounted for 23 percent of road crashes – according to an IIHS study.1
The OBU Lite comes in a lightweight form factor optimized for bicycles, primarily aimed at manufacturing partners. The OBU Lite can be integrated or connected to bicycle and micromobility platforms. It broadcasts messages about the cyclist’s position and direction to other road users, as well as receives messages from other vehicles, so that the rider can be alerted to potential hazards by visual, audio or haptic notification.
The OBU Lite joins the global V2X ecosystem of cars, buses, trucks and other vehicles and a growing digital roadside Infrastructure to help prevent collisions with real-time alerts. Commsignia, building on its automotive and smart city knowledge and its experience working with eBike component manufacturers and OEMs, equipped the OBU Lite with its automotive grade, state-of-the art V2X Software Stack with Security which is already used by car manufacturers.
Commsignia provides a number of road safety applications specifically built for providing secure and robust connection between bicycles and motorized vehicles to prevent the most common crashes.
Commsignia’s own V2X applications include:
Intersection Movement Assist
Left-turn Assist Right-turn Assist
Backward Collision Warning
Slow Moving Vehicle Ahead
Lane Change Assist
Reversed Blindspot Warning
A recent Commsignia poll, reflective of U.S. demographics, found that over 50 percent of people would like to have V2X technology in their vehicle. Over 78 percent of respondents expressed worry about bicyclists and e-scooter riders unexpectedly riding into traffic as they are driving.2
Commsignia is working with partners in the bicycle industry to integrate the technology and expects mass market roll-out in the coming years.
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SzabolcsPatay
Chief Executive Officer / Founder
With the addition of the OBU Lite to our portfolio, our offering now completely covers the whole ecosystem. Bicycles are becoming an increasingly important part of transport, but as the popularity of micromobility solutions grows, the number of collisions involving injury or death is also on the rise. We are very happy to see that bicycle OEMs and component manufacturers are interested in our V2X-based solutions, because together we can solve traffic problems once and for all – says Szabi Patay, CEO of Commsignia.
Commsignia is the largest company focusing on vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology. We are unlocking the full potential of Intelligent Transport Systems with cutting edge V2X software, hardware and services, so bicycle manufacturers, micromobility providers and carmakers can cost-effectively deliver improved road safety and a better riding or driving experience for their customers. Our V2X ecosystem also allows road owners and operators to gain real-time traffic insights from connected sensors, cameras and V2X-equipped vehicles to better protect a wide range of connected and nonconnected road users and reveal otherwise invisible traffic conflicts. V2X is a necessary component of smart intersections to provide traffic priority services for emergency responders, city fleets, and it’s an essential component for self-driving.
Commsignia and Mitsubishi Electric Agree to Partnership for Delivery of Advanced V2X Solutions for Vehicles
Commsignia Ltd. and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced today that they have agreed to form a strategic partnership to deliver Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) technology combining Commsignia’s V2X solution and Mitsubishi Electric’s High-Definition Locator (HDL) technology in a V2X platform that will support the safety of autonomous-driving and advanced-driver-assistance systems (ADAS).
V2X is a key communication technology that is gaining growing acceptance in many countries where governments are considering allowing the installation and commercial use of V2X systems in automobiles. Through their new partnership, Commsignia and Mitsubishi Electric will aim at the early delivery of commercial V2X solutions capable of contributing to increasingly safe assisted and autonomous-driving solutions.
Commsignia’s V2X solution, which integrates communication software with security functions and application software, features an optimized software structure that ensures scalability for next-generation vehicles. Mitsubishi Electric is already mass-producing HDL systems that accurately determine vehicle locations based on proprietary high-precision positioning and mapping data for roads, lanes and other physical conditions in the vicinity of moving vehicles.
The combination of Commsignia’s V2X solution with Mitsubishi Electric’s HDL information is expected to realize systems capable of accurately detecting dynamic conditions in vehicle perimeters and greatly improving the accuracy of warnings of potential collisions. For example, even on sharp curves where vehicles ahead cannot be detected visually or by on-board sensors, the envisioned solution will use the precise positions of a driver’s vehicle and other nearby vehicles to confirm their respective lanes and accurately identify any risk of collision. In particular, the solution is expected to help reduce the incidence of false alarms and provide more timely valid warnings that give drivers additional time to react.
The two partners will also develop a separate solution, called Day2, that would enable nearby vehicles to share data from their on-board sensor (cameras, etc.), and another solution, called Day3, that would facilitate cooperative control between nearby vehicles, both aimed at realizing increasingly advanced V2X safety features.
About Commsignia Ltd.
Commsignia was founded by industry experts in 2012, as one of the pioneer companies to focus fully on research and application of V2X technology. Commsignia develops end-to-end V2X solutions to enable the latest smart city deployments and autonomous vehicle functions with its state-of-the-art sensor data sharing middleware and applications. The company supplies OBU and RSU systems as well as OEM integrated software to support functions related to V2X Connectivity, Security and Applications helping to build the next generation of autonomous vehicles and smart mobility ecosystems that will make driving safer while reducing congestion and lowering emissions.
About Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
With more than 100 years of experience in providing reliable, high-quality products, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503) is a recognized world leader in the manufacture, marketing and sales of electrical and electronic equipment used in information processing and communications, space development and satellite communications, consumer electronics, industrial technology, energy, transportation and building equipment. Mitsubishi Electric enriches society with technology in the spirit of its “Changes for the Better.” The company recorded a revenue of 5,003.6 billion yen (U.S.$ 37.3 billion*) in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023. For more information, please visit www.MitsubishiElectric.com
*U.S. dollar amounts are translated from yen at the rate of \134=U.S.$1, the approximate rate on the Tokyo Foreign Exchange Market on March 31, 2023
Commsignia Changes Leadership Set-up
Global leader in V2X technology announced a rearranging of roles within its top leadership to strengthen foundations for rapid growth and scaling.
20 February, Santa Clara, California – 11-years-old Commsignia, the largest company fully dedicated to V2X technology announced the reallocation of key roles within its top management.
Laszlo Virag, who has been fulfilling the CEO role since the passing of Jozsef Kovacs in late 2021, will shift focus onto strategic leadership, investor relations and creating the company vision as Executive President and CTO. The CEO role will be taken on by co-founder Szabolcs (Szabi) Patay, whose main focus will be on company management and growth execution. He has been with the company since its first days, and lately he has been working as Chief Revenue Officer.
The goal of the reorganization is the optimal allocation of tasks, providing a solid foundation for the rapid growth the company is experiencing.
“With the growth of the company, we want to make sure that proper focus is given to both the long term vision and the daily operations. I’m positive the new setup perfectly serves this goal, and both my and Szabi’s abilities are leveraged in the best possible way” – Laszlo Virag comments.
“I could not be more excited to step into this role, and am looking forward to facing a bigger share of the responsibility in creating a harmonic working environment ensuring high performance, that helps Commsignia maintain its leading role in the industry. I’m really proud of all the results we’ve accomplished in the past years, of the exceptional team we have built up, and all the challenges we have come across – I’m eager to continue this work.” – Szabolcs Patay comments.
Commsignia provides V2X connectivity to traffic lights on Perrone Robotics autonomous vehicles for Jacksonville
Commsignia, the largest company dedicated to Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) technologies, announced that it is partnering with autonomous vehicle (AV) company Perrone Robotics to provide V2X communication systems for smart city applications. Commsignia OB4 On-Board Units (OBU) enable vehicle-to-infrastructure connections using either the latest Cellular-V2X (C-V2X) or the DSRC communication standards.
Infrastructure owners and operators are looking for modern transport solutions to revitalize neighborhoods, creating walkable areas to bring more traffic to local shops and restaurants. Meanwhile, they are also looking at transport efficiency and safety. The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (FL) has similar goals in the Ultimate Urban Circulator program, where Perrone Robotics has deployed their patented TONY (TO Navigate You) AV retrofit kit in vehicles with an integrated Commsignia OB4 V2X On-Board Unit.
Commsignia’s V2X solutions enable AVs to communicate with the infrastructure and obtain a range of information on the status of intersections. One of the most useful pieces of data is the status of traffic lights. Knowing this information accurately allows AVs to move faster, safer and more reliably on public roads.
The Commsignia OB4 unit allows the Perrone Robotics Traffic Light Detection module to keep vehicles in autonomous mode while passing through signalized intersections. The V2X unit also allows their patented AV operating system “MAX” to utilize the V2X messages as a redundant safety check on other visual based sensors. Perrone’s V2X-enabled autonomy kit can be installed on various passenger or cargo transportation vehicles, ranging from small 2-passenger vehicles to 40-foot buses, and they have currently integrated their kit into over 30 different types of vehicles.
“Communication between autonomous vehicles and the infrastructure is essential for efficient driverless operation. Using an external viewpoint provided by the transport infrastructure significantly improves the contextual awareness of self-driving vehicles. V2X provides accurate data in situations where the vehicle’s on-board sensors may have difficulty sensing the environment, allowing vehicles a continuous self-driving operation on the most complex road sections, at intersections.” – said Laszlo Virag, CEO of Commsignia.
“The Commsignia hardware is an added benefit that can allow our customers to expand their areas of operation and shorten their paths to fully driverless operation safely and reliably. By providing a hardware system that both supports DSRC and C-V2X, Commsignia allows us to seamlessly update our customers software as the infrastructure continues to evolve. Perrone Robotics is excited to have a forward-thinking partner in the V2X space that can adapt to different environments and work with us to make autonomy safer and more accessible to all.” – said Nicholas Pilipowskyj of Perrone Robotics.
About Commsignia
Commsignia is the largest company focusing on Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) solutions. The company develops and produces equipment and software for cities, highways as well as automotive and micromobility manufacturers to help them build new connected, intelligent and autonomous transport solutions or improve existing infrastructure. The Commsignia RS4 roadside unit processes and merges information coming from various sensors and cameras for better traffic efficiency and to protect road users including pedestrians and users of micromobility services. The Commsignia OB4 onboard unit provides vehicles with intelligence and the ability to cooperate, connecting them to each other and the infrastructure.
About Perrone Robotics
Perrone is a leading provider of fully automated vehicle systems. The company delivers mobility excellence via TONY® (short for “TO Navigate You”, a vehicle independent retrofit kit for use in the automated transit of people and goods in geo-fenced and localized operations. TONY embeds inside any vehicle type or model, for any job application to provide a complete “artificial driver” solution that brings full autonomy in a safety certifiable framework. Proven, piloted and in commercial production, Perrone automated systems help commercial, municipal, and governmental customers increase transportation efficiencies, enhance safety, and accelerate zero-emission electric vehicle deployment. The company also offers a portfolio of existing turnkey automated shuttles and vehicles pre-integrated with the TONY retrofit kit.
Commsignia Central creates V2X messages from the WZDx database
Data standardization is essential for the digitalization of traffic and road management. The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) has developed the Work Zone Data Exchange (WZDx) Specification to simplify the collaboration of producers and users of road works data through common data standards. WZDx makes sure that consistent, reliable data describing road works are available. DOTs and road operators using WZDx are better prepared to implement digital tools, while Commsignia and similar technology companies can bring their developments to the market.
With the WZDx to V2X conversion, Commsignia Central provides road managers with yet another tool to operate and automate their complex services. Commsignia Central already makes it easy to create and deploy V2X messages to distribute information about traffic events, and the operators get real-time feedback of the transmitted V2X messages.
The software provides an overview of the Connected Intelligent Transportation System (C-ITS) infrastructure, including V2X roadside units and smart sensors, and incident reports help maintain a high level of service.
Keeping track of activities in the field and sharing work zone information is an important goal for road operators. We believe that applications built on V2X technologies offer a unique combination of real-time tracking and preventing work zone road accidents. WZDx and V2X are also a great tool to support the introduction of autonomous vehicles – says Szabolcs Patay, Chief Revenue Officer of Commsignia.
Commsignia develops and produces equipment and software for cities and highways to help them build new connected, intelligent transport solutions or improve existing infrastructure. Commsignia roadside platform processes and merges information coming from various sensors and cameras for better traffic efficiency and to protect road users including pedestrians and users of micro-mobility services. The Commsignia onboard unit provides vehicles with intelligence and the ability to cooperate, connecting them to each other and the infrastructure.
Commsignia connects bicycles to V2X ecosystem with Spoke
14 February 2022, Santa Clara, California – Commsignia, the largest company dedicated to Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) connectivity, announced a collaboration with Vulnerable Road User (VRU) safety experts Spoke to provide automotive grade Cellular-V2X (C-V2X) software solutions for cyclists, motorcyclists and e-scooter riders. Spoke is building on Commsignia’s more than a decade worth of experience in V2X to connect its users to the digital road safety ecosystem with proven technologies.
As bicycle, motorcycle, scooter and other mobility device ridership grows; unfortunately, so are the safety concerns. According to NHTSA, 891 bicyclists were killed in traffic in 2020 which is 5% up compared to 2019. Innovative cities and fleet operators are not just looking for better ways to understand people on the move, they are also focused on how to improve vulnerable road user’s safety.
Commsignia brings in V2X to do that: our broad portfolio includes V2X hardware equipment for all types of vehicles, integration of roadside sensors to provide non-connected users access to the benefits of the V2X ecosystem, all the way to managing V2X devices and collecting anonymized data. With data from V2X, cities and fleet operators can gain valuable insights to improve road safety and traffic efficiency.
“Our vision is to increase safety and efficiency on the road for everyone, all around the globe. Road traffic is changing, and it is important to provide safety solutions for two-wheelers as well. Safety can only be ensured by direct V2X communication, which guarantees that vehicles in close proximity receive potentially life-saving alerts in real time. We are excited to make this a reality by partnering up with Spoke.” said Laszlo Virag, CEO of Commsignia.
The highly optimized V2X software stack and safety application suite designed by Commsignia perfectly fits light vehicles and provides secure direct communication between road users and the infrastructure. By integrating Commsignia’s V2X stack and safety application suite into a new hardware solution, Spoke plans to offer contextual awareness and V2X warning messages for bicyclists and other light mobility users. Low-latency direct communication between road users is essential for V2X safety applications.
“For the first time ever, vulnerable road users like bicyclists can be digitally ‘seen’ by cars and they can “see” the vehicles around them,” said Jarrett Wendt, Spoke CEO. “This is possible because of Spoke’s partnership with Commsignia which is delivering game-changing, automotive-grade connectivity, and more specifically new and unique algorithms specific to VRUs that literally put them on the map.”
Spoke is working with a number of stakeholders, including Qualcomm Technologies, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and vehicle, bicycle, scooter and motorcycle OEMs, for maximum scale, adoption and safety impact. The Spoke portfolio launches with OEM bicycle, motorcycle and scooter partners in 2022.
About Commsignia Commsignia develops and produces equipment and software for cities, highways as well as automotive and micromobility manufacturers to help them build new connected, intelligent transport solutions or improve existing infrastructure. The Commsignia roadside platform processes and merges information coming from various sensors and cameras for better traffic efficiency and to protect road users including pedestrians and users of micro-mobility services. The Commsignia onboard unit provides vehicles with intelligence and the ability to cooperate, connecting them to each other and the infrastructure.
About Spoke Spoke is elevating rider connectivity and safety. We are orchestrating state-of-the-art technologies with market-leading partners to deliver a transformative, digital IoT ecosystem for vulnerable road users like bicyclists, motorcyclists and other light mobility users, putting them at the center of the mobility ecosystem. Spokeware combines first-of-its-kind C-V2X and modem-based solutions along with a complete cockpit and computing experience that digitally connects riders and equipment manufacturers, and delivers context-aware, personalized intelligence and insights to guide our daily rides, commutes and adventures.
Commsignia leads multi-national consortium to build and demonstrate broad V2X capabilities in the UK
Zenzic, the organisation dedicated to accelerating the self-driving revolution in the UK, has announced the launch of a V2X project, which is led by Commsignia and in partnership with CAM Testbed UK partners.
Working with technology companies Vodafone and Nokia, the project aims to assess the current “state of play” across the UK Vehicle 2 Everything (V2X) landscape and deploy a pilot installation across CAM Testbed UK. The aim is to deliver a reliable, trusted and secure service which is scalable for end-to-end trials and testing of initial V2X services.
Although fully automated vehicles and associated services are now beginning to emerge in the UK, there has been an increase in the volume of connected vehicles on roads in the UK. The UK transport sector has reached a critical moment in the enabling of connected car services and whilst the discussion on V2X in the UK is increasing, there is still work to be done on the required development and services that are needed to realise its value. The collaboration and co-ordination between road operators, mobile network operators and vehicle OEMs will be necessary for V2X services to move towards deployment.
The project, which is funded by the government’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and coordinated by Zenzic, will be led by Commsignia and will bring together UK expertise in V2X services. Partners include UTAC Millbrook and Horiba MIRA, both members of the world-leading CAM Testbed UK as well as Vodafone. This collaboration will see the development of the training and skills map that is needed for this emerging sector whilst using CAM Testbed UK as facilitators.
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LaszloVirag
Executive President and Chief Technology Officer / Founder
“Commsignia is excited to be bringing its decade long experience in V2X technologies to UK off road test facilities allowing vehicle manufactures and road operators to test an ever-growing number of V2X safety use cases. We are positive that this project will pave the way for leveraging vehicle communication technology that allows making roads safer”
Peter Stoker, Chief Engineer, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles at UTAC said: “We are delighted to be part of this multi sector group to look at and implement V2X services at our location and to other sites. It will inform policy and technology choices for the future in having a controlled network where all comers can trial, assess and sometimes fail in private before public deployment”.
Luke Ibbetson, Head of Group R&D, Vodafone Technology, said: “Vodafone is delighted to be delivering our world leading mobility cloud capability to the UK CAM test bed initiative to improve road safety. Many organisations, including vehicle manufacturers and road operators, will benefit from advanced connected mobility services using our highly responsive edge cloud infrastructure.”
“V2X connectivity will transform mobility services but we need to validate them to ensure they perform robustly and are safe and secure. The knowhow developed during this project will be integrated into ASSURED CAV and delivered as a portfolio of connectivity services to our clients.” Chris Reeves, Head of CAV Technologies at HORIBA MIRA
The project aims to deliver a reliable, trusted and secure service which is scalable for end-to-end trials and testing of initial V2X services by March 2022.
About Zenzic Zenzic brings together government, academia, innovators, and developers of intelligent mobility solutions in a collaborative partnership. It facilitates and supports the acceleration of the UK’s emerging connected and autonomous vehicle sector within the global transport ecosystem with resources to enable profitable growth.
About Commsignia UK Commsignia is the market’s most dynamic V2X company thanks to its cutting-edge technology and market ready portfolio. Commsignia specializes in Connected Car / V2X “Safer on the Road” software and hardware products compatible with IEEE 802.11p standards and DSRC and future Cellular V2X (C-V2X) / 5G technologies. Commsignia is helping to build the next generation autonomous car and smart mobility ecosystem that will make driving safer whilst reducing congestion and lowering emissions. Commsignia supplies best-in-class V2X (Car2X) Communication Software, hybrid V2X /ADAS Applications with robust PKI and SCMS security, a V2X SDK as well as OnBoard (OBU) and Roadside Units (RSU) for connected car and Smart City deployments.
About CAM Testbed UK CAM Testbed UK is the centre for the innovation and development of connected and self-driving vehicle technologies. It is the only place worldwide with the capability to take ideas from concept to development both virtually and physically, all within a 3-hour drive. The UK’s comprehensive and integrated facilities are world-leading, with a unique ability to cross-share data and a collaborative way of working.
Highly Accurate Positioning Solution for Automotive Use Successfully Demonstrated by PRoPART Project
Enhanced safety and efficiency – these are the most important benefits expected from autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems. For these to operate in a highly reliable way, a robust and precise positioning solution is required. Delivering such a solution has been the main purpose of the PRoPART project. Through exploitation of the distinguished features of Galileo in combination with other positioning and sensor technologies, shared using V2X technology, this goal was achieved. The project culminated in a successful demonstration last week at AstaZero Proving Ground in Sandhult, near Borås, Sweden.
The solution, developed during the project, was demonstrated in a recreated highway situation, with a connected autonomous truck in the presence of two unconnected human-driving cars. The truck wishes to make a safe and efficient lane change. The decision to change lane or refrain from changing lane was made by the PRoPART system, relying on combined, centimetre accurate positioning data and collaborative perception sensor data fusion. In this scenario the lane change manoeuvre was executed by a self-driving truck from Scania, entirely relying on the PRoPART solution for situational awareness.
The importance of the PRoPART project lies in delivering a robust solution for the future mass market of autonomous road transport, that fulfils the different needs of vehicle OEMs. It uses object detection sensors as well as position and time information from both the autonomous vehicle as well as similar information from road side detection units by means of V2X communication, providing remote sensing of non-connected vehicles, offering a reliable solution for the transition period when both automated and non-automated vehicles are using the roads.
7 partners from 4 European countries
The project combined RTK Positioning Software from Waysure (Sweden) with satellite measurements, in particular advanced Galileo signals for improved accuracy and authentication from Fraunhofer IIS (Germany). The satellite positioning has been augmented with an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) ranging solution from Spanish research institution Ceit-IK4. The self-driving truck was supplied by Scania, with Hungary-based V2X company Commsignia providing in the C-ITS technology. Baselabs from Germany provided sensor data fusion of onboard and road-side sensors and developed a situational assessment for the intended automated lane change manoeuvre. The project was coordinated by the Research Institute of Sweden (RISE).
Real Time Kinematic software solution
RTK is a technique widely used for precise GNSS positioning based on the use of code and carrier phase measurements from the primary GNSS constellation(s). The use of carrier phase measurements allows cm-level accuracies at the expense of having to solve the integer ambiguity of such carrier signals, which is a sophisticated process with a certain convergence time. The main inconvenience of the RTK technique is that it requires a reference station relatively close to the user so that the differential satellite and transmission medium errors are negligible, of which ionospheric delay is the largest contributor. A way to partially overcome such inconvenience appears with network RTK (NRTK or virtual RTK) which uses a set of reference stations to provide correction data local to the user. In any case, RTK/NRTK approaches work well with baselines no longer than about 15 km for single frequency solutions with the required precision of autonomous vehicle applications. Where multiple GNSS frequencies are used the ionospheric error can be accounted for as it has a frequency dependent effect increasing the operational baseline length.
This project has received funding from the European GNSS Agency under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 innovation programme under grant agreement No 776307.
Partners:
About RISE:
RISE is the Swedish Research Institute and innovation partner. In international collaboration with industry, academia and the public sector, we ensure the competitiveness of the business community and contribute to a sustainable society. Our 2,800 employees support and promote all manner of innovative processes. RISE is an independent, state-owned research institute that offers unique expertise and about 100 testbeds and demonstration facilities, instrumental in future-proofing technologies, products and services.
Waysure contribute to safer and more sustainable future transport system by enabling autonomous platforms through precision positioning. Waysure’s high accuracy, high integrity solution is a key source of information in the self-driving sensor suite. The precise positioning software solution enables accurate and affordable positioning for mass markets such as autonomous vehicles, micro-mobility, drones and precision agriculture.
About Ceit-IK4:
Ceit-IK4 is a non-profit research centre that was created by the University of Navarra in 1982. Our primary mission is to carry out applied industrial research projects under contract, working closely with our clients’ R&D departments. Ceit-IK4 seeks regular collaboration with companies in a range of sectors (railway, aeronautical, automotive, health, manufacturing, energy and environment) and strives to understand all aspects of our clients’ business in order to develop high value-added solutions through applied investigation projects. In addition to offering innovative solutions to our clients, Ceit-IK4 trains young researchers who are preparing to join the labour market and add value to the production system.
Thus, Ceit-IK4 contributes applying own technology and knowledge to different sectors with the development of embedded systems designing advanced sensors to provide high accuracy and low-cost solutions.
About Scania Scania is a world-leading provider of transport solutions. Together with our partners and customers we are driving the shift towards a sustainable transport system. In 2018, we delivered 88,000 trucks, 8,500 buses as well as 12,800 industrial and marine engines to our customers. Net sales totalled to over SEK 137 billion, of which about 20 percent were services-related. Founded in 1891, Scania now operates in more than 100 countries and employs some 52,000 people. Research and development are concentrated in Sweden, with branches in Brazil and India. Production takes place in Europe, Latin America and Asia, with regional production centres in Africa, Asia and Eurasia. Scania is part of TRATON SE. For more information visit: www.scania.com.
About Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS
The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Erlangen is one of the world’s leading application-oriented research institutions for microelectronic and IT system solutions and services. The Fraunhofer IIS branch in Nürnberg concentrates its competencies in positioning and identification technologies, wireless communication as well as energy-efficient system solutions in the areas of production, security, mobility and IoT. We offer standardized positioning and networking technologies that deliver impressive accuracy, real-time capability and intelligent processing in various digital applications. One key activity in Nürnberg with over 20 years of experience is the development of customized, high-precision GNSS receivers and antennas for specific applications that process signals from a combination of different sources including Galileo, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, and SBAS on multiple frequency bands.
Commsignia is the market’s most dynamic V2X company thanks to its cutting-edge technology and market ready portfolio. Commsignia specializes in Connected Car / V2X “Safer on the Road” software and hardware products compatible with IEEE 802.11p standards and DSRC and future Cellular V2X (C-V2X) / 5G technologies. Commsignia is helping to build the next generation autonomous car and smart mobility ecosystem that will make driving safer whilst reducing congestion and lowering emissions. Commsignia supplies best-in-class V2X (Car2X) Communication Software, hybrid V2X /ADAS Applications with robust PKI and SCMS security, a V2X SDK as well as OnBoard (OBU) and Roadside Units (RSU) for connected car and Smart City deployments.
About BASELABS:
BASELABS provides data fusion results for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and highly automated driving (HAD) to OEMs, Tier1s, Tier2s and service providers. Our software framework and engineering services address both prototyping and series development of data fusion software to combine the data from all automotive sensors like radar, camera and lidar using object fusion, grid fusion and lane fusion algorithms. The resulting unified environment model enables driving functions like AEB, ACC, lane keeping and piloted driving in highway and urban scenarios. BASELABS has a team size of 50+ people. The company is in shared ownership of the four founders and Vector Informatik GmbH. This makes BASELABS strategically independent from any OEM or Tier 1 in the market.