Delphi, Mobileye Aim To Develop Autonomous Driving System By 2019

Automotive systems giant Delphi and visual software firm Mobileye hope to demonstrate a fully autonomous driving system early next year and begin production by 2019.

The companies on Tuesday announced the agreement to develop a Central Sensing Localization and Planning platform based largely on Mobileye’s EyeQ system and automated driving algorithms from Delphi's 2015 acquisition of Ottomatika Inc.

The end-to-end autonomous system, officials said, would provide both performance and safety to a wide array of vehicle manufacturers.

U.K.-based Delphi and Israel's Mobileye first collaborated on an active safety system in 2002.

"Our long history together is key to the success of this ambitious endeavor,” said Mobileye Chairman Amnon Shashua. "Our partnership with Delphi will accelerate the time to market and enable customers to adopt Level 4/5 automation without the need for huge capital investments, thereby creating a formidable advantage for them.”

The companies plan to demonstrate the system's capabilities in January at CES 2017 and be ready to go into production two years later.

Engineers from both companies will also cooperate on next-generation sensor technology and "driving policy" — or the capabilities needed to negotiate urban environments alongside human drivers and pedestrians.

Mobileye currently works with some two dozen other automakers and last month announced an autonomous vehicle partnership with BMW and Intel. The company, however, recently split with Tesla Motors after the electric vehicle maker's "Autopilot" system was involved in its first fatal crash.