ERASMO Consortium Successfully Showcased its Cutting-Edge Automated Driving On-Board Unit in Live Event!

On June 26th, ERASMO will give a demonstration of the innovative on-board unit (OBU) it has been developing since the summer of 2021. The demonstration marks both the culmination of the ERASMO project, a collaborative consortium funded by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), and the successful achievement of ERASMO’s aim: to contribute to building technologies in Europe powered by European research and innovation that enable autonomous driving.

Key features of the ERASMO OBU include:

• Highly advanced positioning thanks to the high-end GNSS receiver (multi-constellation, multi-frequency) that leverages the advanced correction service of EU’s satellite system Galileo.
• Highly advanced safety performance through an integrity layer, which uses protection levels (PLs) and integrity risks (IRs) to measure: the probability and the confidence of the vehicle’s position, when the estimated location is safe, and to what extent to trust the information provided by the positioning system.

Compiègne, France, June 26th — ERASMO, a pioneering European consortium, is proud to announce the successful live demonstration of its state-of-the-art On-Board Unit (OBU) that enables automated driving. Leveraging the expertise of Europe’s major players and technology companies like Renault Group, Idneo, GMV, Kudan and Septentrio, ERASMO brings to life a multi-sensor solution capable of achieving both high-accuracy and safe navigation for an automated driving. The ERASMO OBU integrates multi-constellation and multi-frequency GNSS signals, and combines information from the vehicle sensors and internal and external sensors thanks to proprietary positioning algorithms. The result is a hybrid solution with integrity estimations that aim to maintain 10 cm localisation accuracy regardless of the external environment. Held at France’s University of Technology of Compiègne’s Centre for Innovation, the successful demonstration of the OBU capabilities brings ERASMO, a coalition of industry and academia funded by EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), to a close.

Europe’s Rise in Smart Systems and Autonomous Solutions The automotive industry has seen significant advancements in recent years, particularly with the rise of “smart” systems that enhance driving safety and efficiency. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), once exclusive to high-end models, are now becoming common in mass-market vehicles as manufacturers invest in sophisticated technology. While no company has yet produced a commercially viable autonomous car, notable achievements are frequently reported. Some U.S.-based companies operate robo-taxis in major cities, and European manufacturers have received licenses for limited self-driving capabilities in Germany and the U.S. Although currently only 0.02% of global passenger vehicle production consists of fully autonomous vehicles (SAE levels 4-5), this segment is projected to grow by about 30% annually, highlighting the importance of solutions like the ERASMO OBU. *

ERASMO: The Key to Intelligent Vehicle Navigation ERASMO leverages Europe’s technical expertise to address the critical challenge of insufficient positioning accuracy and reliability of contemporary automotive satellite navigation systems (GNSS), crucial for both self-driving vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Indeed, mass market GNSS receivers used in the automotive industry can provide positioning errors of around 1-3 meters based on GNSS standalone solutions. Many factors offset satellite positioning accuracy, e.g. clouds and weather conditions, or signal reflection in urban areas. Tunnels and underground garages present additional difficulties. Yet location is critically important for modern automotive systems, as many of them need to know not only which road the vehicle is currently traveling on, but also which lane, and the position of the vehicle inside the lane. This requires positioning accuracy of about a decimetre. This is specifically the problem that ERASMO addresses.

ERASMO satisfies the positioning requirements of sophisticated driving support systems and autonomous vehicles by integrating a high-end GNSS receiver (multi-constellation, multi-frequency) leveraging the use of PPP-RTK corrections for fast high-accuracy convergence, and “hybridizing” the GNSS data with information from the vehicle’s on-board sensors (wheel odometry, inertial management, cameras, LiDAR devices). The use of multiple sensors provides additional precision, especially in areas where satellite signal may be weak or missing and allows the calculation of the system’s error rate indicators (e.g. availability and integrity) which will provide a layer of additional vehicle operational safety.

A Successful Live Demo in Various Environments During the live demonstration, attendees witnessed the ERASMO OBU’s impressive capabilities in various driving scenarios: in urban, peri-urban and rural environment as well as closed drive loop for fully automated drive. The demo achieved several objectives including:

• Showcased hardware and software communication between components to deliver a single accurate positioning. To this aim, the ERASMO solution extracts road features, traffic markings, signs, and GNSS data in real-time.
• Highlighted optimal use of E-GNSS, through one or several of the following technical aspects:
  • Multi-constellation and multi-frequency (L1/E1 and L5/E5 bands).
  • High accuracy techniques (PPP-RTK) and longer integration time with pilot signals.

The event also presented an economically and operationally feasible solution with mass-market potential. Additionally, there were also speeches from key ERASMO members and the wider industrial and research community, as well as a networking session.

“This live demo underscores the fact that leading innovations in the automated driving space are being developed using European tech, brains, and resources. We’re deeply proud of our OBU and the collaborative work we’ve been able to undertake” said Albert Alcàsser, Technology and Innovation Lead at Idneo.

About ERASMO Funded by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), The ERASMO project was officially launched in June 2021. Its aim has been to develop an innovative positioning On-Board-Unit (OBU) that enables automated driving. The project is being carried out by a consortium that includes Renault, Idneo, Kudan, GMV, ZN, Septentrio, and CNRS-UTC.

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*Following the report by Next Move Strategy Consulting re 2023

Press Contacts

FR: ilinca@edifice-communication.com

ENG: Anita.s@znconsulting.com