LeddarTech in the race among the giants

A Quebec company is conducting tests to develop self-driving with a Toyota RAV-4 equipped with the latest patented equipment, which is close to $300,000.

This Toyota is certainly the most pampered in town because it has been modified to incorporate the LeddarTech technology platform that is used to develop autonomous driving.

“It is not an ordinary car. For us, it is a laboratory,” says Pierre Olivier, Head of Technology.

LeddarTech decided on this model because its electronic systems essentially allow for greater maneuverability to meet research and development needs.

Installed with its many cameras and lidar, this futuristic-looking vehicle whose role is to reveal the presence and remoteness of objects does not leave anyone indifferent.

“The funny thing is the reaction of people interested in technology. For our tests, we look for places with a lot of pedestrians. When we drive down Saint-Jean Street or in a Costco parking lot, people look at us with wide eyes,” says Olivier.

Like going from a horse to a car

Currently, autonomous driving is possible, without driver intervention, in a controlled environment. In this case, we are talking about the Technology Park of Metropolitan Quebec. As for other places visited, we mainly collect data. He said that LeddarTech has two more such vehicles in Israel and the fleet is expected to spread around the world.

Within three years, the RAV-4 deployed 10,000 km of round-the-clock road tests. The goal is to collect as much data as possible under as many conditions as possible to feed the algorithms.

According to Olivier, the revolution that will take place in the automotive sector is just as important as that which saw the birth of the horse-to-car traffic and LeddarTech intends to play an active role in this transformation.

auspicious

“We have clients who are among the biggest players in the world. It’s a very positive thing for the future,” Oliver adds.

LeddarTech, founded in 2007, sells its advanced technologies to manufacturers who incorporate them into their products.

Its solutions are deployed in autonomous shuttles, trucks, buses, delivery vehicles, etc.

“We don’t see ourselves as competitors to Tesla. Tesla is a car manufacturer that develops its own driver assistance and automated driving software, while most other manufacturers turn to technology suppliers such as LeddarTech,” concludes Mr. Olivier.