LeddarTech and TTTech Auto Announce a Leap Forward in Autonomous Driving Safety

[QUEBEC CITY, Canada and VIENNA, Austria, December 6] – LeddarTech®, an automotive software company that provides patented disruptive AI-based low-level sensor fusion and perception software technology for ADAS and AD, and TTTech Auto, a technology leader in automotive safety software, are pleased to announce the completion of a joint demonstrator for a fail-operational architecture based on LeddarTech’s LeddarVision™ software and TTTech Auto’s Safety Co-Pilot solution.

TTTech Auto’s innovative Safety Co-Pilot solution tackles the challenges of a safety architecture suitable for autonomous driving on SAE Level 3 and beyond. It is based on a doer channel, which is responsible for the main driving task, and an independent checker channel. In the event of an abnormal situation identified by the checker, the doer channel is seamlessly overridden, and a fallback channel brings the vehicle to a safe stop.

In this collaboration, TTTech Auto leverages its proficiency in safety mechanisms and automotive platforms, complemented by LeddarTech’s advanced fusion and perception capabilities. TTTech Auto contributes operational platforms and frameworks, facilitating the development of decomposed architectures for safety applications. LeddarTech enhances the partnership with its high-performance fusion and perception stack, grounded in low-level fusion. It provides valuable datasets for agile architecture exploration and demonstration of decomposed perception paths. Both companies exemplify an agile approach, employing risk assessment and safety-critical event feasibility assessments to showcase a potential solution. This collaborative effort aims to support car OEMs constructing their SAE Level 2-3 safety solutions.

To demonstrate the viability of this approach and its potential for vehicle safety and cost efficiency, TTTech Auto and LeddarTech have partnered up to combine LeddarTech’s LeddarVision with TTTech Auto’s Safety Co-Pilot, creating a demonstrator focused on the checker channel. Key features include:

• LeddarTech’s LeddarVision: A powerful AI-based low-level fusion and perception software stack that leverages raw sensor data from cameras and radars to build an environmental model. Depending on the sensor set and the diversity concept, LeddarVision can be deployed either in the doer or the checker channel.
• TTTech Auto’s Safety Co-Pilot: A versatile solution for the checker channel equipped with a set of validation modules, each encompassing checks related to critical safety requirements. The demonstrator showcases validation modules addressing probabilistic risks associated with physically unfeasible trajectories and potentially dangerous collisions. A crucial element in ensuring safety is that these checks are performed based on a separate environment model –in this case, LeddarVision–, ensuring full independence from the doer channel.

The testing of this demonstrator was conducted on data collected from highways in Germany and Israel. The results demonstrate that LeddarTech’s high-quality environmental model and TTTech Auto’s probabilistic checking implement an efficient and reliable checker channel. This advancement provides a robust safety argument for AD systems operating at SAE Level 3 and beyond.

“We are paving the way to autonomous driving safety with true fail-operational architectures,” stated Stefan Poledna, CTO at TTTech Auto. “TTTech Auto’s groundbreaking architecture, in conjunction with LeddarTech’s LeddarVision, confirms our commitment to SAE Level 3 and 4 autonomous driving.”

Frantz Saintellemy, President, COO and incoming CEO of LeddarTech, added: “Through our partnership with TTTech Auto in the integration of our LeddarVision AI-based software and TTTech Auto’s Safety Co-Pilot, our collective aim has been to showcase a high-level fail-operational architecture suitable for safe driving automation. This collaboration demonstrates our belief that by aligning ourselves with other industry leaders in win-win partnerships, we accelerate technology deployment and adoption.”

LeddarTech is responsible for several remote-sensing innovations, with over 150 patent applications (80 granted) that enhance ADAS and AD capabilities. Better awareness around the vehicle is critical in making global mobility safer, more efficient, sustainable and affordable: this is what drives LeddarTech to seek to become the most widely adopted sensor fusion and perception software solution.

Additional information about LeddarTech is accessible at www.LeddarTech.com.