Uncrewed Systems Technology 043 l Auve Tech Iseauto taxi l Charging focus l Advanced Navigation Hydrus l UGVs insight l MVVS 116 l Windracers ULTRA l CES 2022 show report l ECUs focus I Distant Imagery

28 redundancy installations of sensors and computers to provide a final safety layer to guarantee SAE Level 4. These will be ready for testing on the new prototype in a few months’ time, before it is unveiled to the public later in the year. System architecture The Iseauto’s various components fall into three categories, or ‘layers’. The first, outermost category is the physical layer, and comprises the metallic and plastic structural parts that are largely the responsibility of Auve’s mechanical engineers. The second layer is everything that generates an electrical signal, from Lidar, camera sensors and other navigation systems, to the electric powertrain, down to the main computer hardware. These are handled by the team of electronics engineers. The third is everything that connects the electronics and powertrain – the cables, connectors, and boards – which are handled by the electrical engineers. “Interactions between the teams are key,” Mossov says. “Many of the panels have to be removable to access interface plugs for maintenance checks and inspections, but the interfaces have to be designed so that they cannot form pathways for hackers to connect malware hardware for possible access. It’s a careful interplay between electrics, electronics and mechanical structure.” Structural materials and design The first point of discussion for the team when choosing the physical structure, materials and manufacturing approach of any Iseauto is the number of vehicles that will be made in that model configuration. “In the first vehicles, we used quite a lot of fibreglass. Manually cutting those parts out and working with them was a very time- consuming process, so we’ve switched largely now to vacuum-forming body parts out of ABS plastic,” Mossov says. “That means we can produce between 50 and 100 outer body parts per day, not only vacuum-forming but also using five-axis CNC machines to cut plastics and metals to shape. I’d estimate we can produce up to 50 vehicles a year with our current personnel and machinery.” Although many parts of the structure are aluminium, to save weight, most of the chassis is currently steel. The company says it might incorporate more aluminium as scale production and demand rise, to save more weight and thus carry more passengers per journey. April/May 2022 | Unmanned Systems Technology Auve has built its taxis electric to reduce emissions, and autonomous to better enable shared mobility The company’s engineers view the Iseauto’s constituent parts as divided into three ‘layers’ – physical, electrical and electronic