EasyMile AV and Velodyne lidar deal reached

EasyMile will enhance its EZ10 autonomous shuttle fleet with Velodyne sensors for safe and efficient navigation on roadways.

Velodyne Lidar has announced a three-year agreement with EasyMile, a global leader in driverless technology and smart vehicle solutions.

EasyMile uses Velodyne lidar sensors in the production of its EZ10 autonomous passenger shuttles deployed on public and private roads in more than 30 countries.

Electric and driverless, the EZ10 shuttle was the one of the first autonomous shuttles, launched in April 2015.

It has more than 200 deployments and at least 600,000km driven in autonomous mode.

The shuttle can carry up to 15 passengers and includes a built-in automated electric ramp to support accessibility for people with disabilities.

“For precise navigation in real time, the EZ10s use our algorithm that fuses data from a variety of perception sensors, including lidar and camera, and localisation sensors, including GPS, INS and odometry,” EasyMile product marketing director Olivier Pairot says.

“Velodyne lidars along with radar scan for objects, vehicles, animals and people that might pose a collision threat, feeding that information to the vehicle’s control software.

“By utilising Velodyne sensors, we are able to best gather information on every part of our environment, both close to the vehicle and at longer ranges.”

The EasyMile EZ10 provides a shared driverless shuttle solution that improves public transport by connecting hubs and in many cases, delivers a transport service where there otherwise isn’t one available, Velodyne Lidar Europe executive director Erich Smidt says.

“These shuttles show how Velodyne lidar sensors provide real-time perception data that enables safe and reliable operation for autonomous vehicles across business parks, public transport connections, university campuses and more.”

EasyMile has headquarters in Toulouse, France, and regional offices in Denver (USA), Berlin (Germany), Adelaide (Australia) and Singapore.