From left: Lero’s Dr Patrick Denny and Arm’s Dr Andrea Kells and Dr Alexis Lluis Gomez.
The four-year research project aims to create advances in car cameras and AI to enhance how automated vehicles react to their surroundings.
Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software, has partnered with semiconductor giant Arm to improve road safety in automated vehicles.
The two entities have teamed up on a four-year research project valued at €566,000. This collaboration will explore new technologies that can help cars see and react to their surroundings faster and more effectively.
The key focus of this project – called ARMADAS1 – is on new car camera systems and AI. The researchers aim to enhance how vehicles perceive their surroundings by enhancing these components.
By creating more responsive vehicles, Lero and Arm said the project could reduce road accidents and create new products for the global automotive market. The research is being led by Lero’s Dr Patrick Denny, an associate professor at the University of Limerick and an expert in automotive imaging.
“As car camera systems become increasingly sophisticated and AI is deployed across the vehicle, this research aims to explore the potential of smarter, more responsive imaging systems optimised for computers rather than humans,” Denny said. “The collaboration between Lero and Arm could revolutionise the way vehicles perceive their environments by optimising cameras and sensing systems for AI processing, enabling cars to sense and react faster to their environment.”
Arm VP of technology strategy and fellow, Andy Rose, said the automotive market is going through an “unprecedented transformation” and that the company has seen increased demand for “AI across the vehicle”.
“Bringing together Arm’s technical expertise and market knowledge with Lero’s internationally recognised software and computer imaging research capabilities, this project has the potential to drive exciting new developments for next-generation automotive vision systems,” Rose said.
The self-driving sector has been expanding, with companies such as Waymo providing robotaxi services in multiple cities in the US. Recently, Uber announced a partnership with GM-owned Cruise that will see robotaxis made available for some Uber users next year.
The partnership could be a significant boost for Cruise, which was forced to stop operating in California after one of its vehicles dragged and pinned a pedestrian last year.
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