Autonomous driving technology firms Cognata and LeddarTech are partnering to help bring self-driving farm vehicles faster to market, the companies announced June 24.
Autonomous harvesting systems are witnessing a huge amount of demand from farm owners. The market for field farming applications is expected to grow from $5 billion in 2020 to $20 billion in 2025, according to a 2020 report from MarketsandMarkets.
Now Cognata and LeddarTech are leveraging their experience in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and AVs to help test and validate autonomous farm vehicles.
Cognata uses artificial intelligence, deep learning and computer vision to create a realistic automotive simulation environment where virtual cars travel virtual roads in virtual cities that closely simulate real-world situation, including weather conditions and artificial traffic.
“Cognata and LeddarTech are joining forces to create a robust solution that will efficiently and safely accelerate autonomous vehicles market entry,” Cognata’s CEO Danny Atsmon said in a statement. “Highly accurate and scalable simulation technology is essential to validate ADAS systems and autonomous vehicles within nearly infinite combinations of real-world scenarios.”
In contrast, LeddarTech helps develop environmental sensors for ADAS and AV systems. The companies will integrate Cognata’s simulation software into LeddarTech’s sensor technology.
“LeddarTech and Cognata share the vision of using large-scale, cloud-based simulation to thoroughly and safely train and test self-driving cars under endless challenging situations,” Ronny Cohen, LeddarTech’s senior director of Israel operations and engineering, said in a statement. “This is a joining of the market’s leading solutions to a unique best-of-breed offering that will accelerate the safe deployment of ADAS and AV technology.”
