Unmanned Systems Technology 019 | Navya Autonom Cab | Batteries | UGVs Insight | UAV Factory UAV28-EFI | Swiss Aerobotics Hummel | UMEX 2018 report | Antennas | Oceanology International 2018 report

30 “We estimate that 99% of the software we are putting into the vehicle is created by Navya. In this way we can handle any sensors that come onto the market,” Sapet says. This is important, he adds, because the ability to integrate new sensors at any time enables the company to make significant improvements in overall performance quickly. “At the moment we think the VLP and the Scala are the best technology available, but new entrants are coming onto the market and we are studying and evaluating all of them,” he says. Wanted: solid-state Lidars He notes that Lidars are generally considered to be very expensive, as they rely on electromechanical scanning that must be very fast, reliable and precise, adding that solid-state Lidars will be needed in future, both to bring the cost down and to drive up reliability. “For the moment, the only solid-state Lidars are very poor in performance, so it is not a real solution yet, but of course we believe they will be available in the future.” While CAN bus has become the de facto comms standard for automotive sensors, they are not necessarily all able to talk to each other or to a central computer in the same way, which naturally presents integration challenges. “We are at the very beginning of these things, and a lot of people are experimenting with different solutions. For the moment we don’t have many integration problems because we have developed software to detect any faults and stop the vehicle if sensors are not working.” Furthermore, he says, the drive to master all the steps in the design and manufacture of the Cab will enable the company to integrate new capabilities and make changes rapidly. Quantifying this, he says Navya can make changes in six months that would take other companies two years, an advantage he is determined to keep by capitalising on what it learns in its operational trials. Automotive aspects There are about 25 engineers dedicated to the automotive aspects of the vehicle, which are just as important as the robotic aspects because of course the Cab must meet, or preferably exceed, the requirements of the regulations governing vehicles on public roads. For example, Sapet says the company is working very closely with automotive subsystem suppliers and OEMs to meet the need for greater redundancy in both the braking and steering systems. This is partly a question of having robust fault-warning systems, but as the Cab already has multiple sensors and sources of information that provide redundancy in this area it is in the electromechanical and hydraulic systems that more work is needed. He says, for example, that the steering might require two independent electric motors and a failure detection system, along with more robust performance. “The first autonomous steering systems were only designed to operate at up to 7 or 10 kph because they were used to operate parking assist systems, but now things are changing rapidly, and in the future we will need a much more sophisticated system. This is the kind of thing we want to develop with partners.” One difficulty with developing bespoke components for the Cab at this stage of the programme is that Navya can only order them in small production runs, which might not interest the established automotive suppliers. “These guys, the OEMs, are used to having orders for hundreds of thousands of items, so when we want a specific component developed but only, say, 1000 of them, it doesn’t mean anything for them,” Sapet says. Getting high-volume manufacturers interested in projects that only involve production of relatively small numbers of the finished item is a perennial problem throughout industry. There are also long lead times to consider, with two years being typical for the development cycle at a large automotive supplier. Navya cannot wait that long, Sapet says, so it must find creative ways to develop specific systems. For example, the company has worked successfully with a major Japanese steering system supplier on a bespoke solution for the Cab, which is now ready, although Sapet wouldn’t be drawn on further details. April/May 2018 | Unmanned Systems Technology Dossier | Navya Autonom Cab Much of the running gear comes from a major automotive group in France, while a new electrically powered steering system has been developed by a Japanese supplier (Author’s photo)