Continental Integrates Imagry's Autonomous Driving Technology to Support Automated Parking for Mass Market Passenger Cars

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May 22, 2023, 06:37 ET

Solution automates parking spot exploration
Once a suitable parking spot has been identified by the system the vehicle will park autonomously, using Continental's and Imagry's technology
Function designed for use in both covered parking garages and uncovered parking lots
Integration complements the new industry concept of the "Software Defined Vehicle" (SDV) in which specialty applications will be offered across different automobile makes and models

HAIFA, Israel, May 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagry, a developer of mapless autonomous driving software solutions, announced that Continental will be integrating part of its technology in the Continental Autonomous Driving (AD) platform offering for passenger vehicles. The first feature introduced by Continental, autonomous parking, allows the vehicle to explore a parking lot, detect a suitable parking space, and park the vehicle all without the driver touching the steering wheel. Aniss Ouyeder, Head of Partnerships and Innovation at Continental Business Area Autonomous Mobility: "Imagry's technology approach is a great add-on to Continental's software stack solutions for assisted and automated driving. We are impressed by the talented and highly motivated Imagry team and we are looking forward to jointly realize new automated parking features."

Imagry Uses a Location-Independent Autonomous Driving Model

Imagry software combines cutting-edge AI technology that captures and recognizes a real-time video feed with a deep neural network to make complex driving decisions instantly, based on current driving conditions. As such, the solution is mapless, i.e., not limited to pre-learned geographic areas. Over the last three years Imagry has been operating vehicles equipped with its autonomous driving software on public roads in the United States, Germany, and Israel.

Integration Reflects Software-Defined Vehicle Industry Trend

The global automobile industry is moving from hardware-based design to software-centric electronic devices. The versatility of this new platform allows vehicle manufacturers to offer features such as autonomous valet parking as an add-on to their entire range of vehicles. Furthermore, OEMs will be able to deploy software features to the vehicle even after it has left the factory, using "over the air" (OTA) transmission for software updates.

How the Autonomous Driving Technology Works

Imagry's autonomous driving motion planning technology will be used. The Motion Planning layer is a deep neural network that learns to drive by imitating human behavior, making motion planning decisions in real time. It extrapolates and generalizes by drawing on the learned behavior to navigate new roads independently, making complex data-driven decisions based on what it perceives in the moment. For the first phase of the autonomous valet parking feature, the driver must be in the vehicle, monitoring the surroundings and the car's maneuvers. The driver decides when, and if, to engage the autonomous valet parking feature.

First Step in Enabling L3 Autonomous Driving in Passenger Cars

"Autonomous parking is just the first step in the path to full autonomous driving," states Eran Ofir, CEO at Imagry. "The capabilities of our mapless system extend easily to the open road, enabling the vehicle to operate freely in geographic areas which were previously unknown to it. We're confident that Continental OEM customers will soon appreciate the full extent of our exciting offering."

About Continental

Continental develops pioneering technologies and services for sustainable and connected mobility of people and their goods. Founded in 1871, the technology company offers safe, efficient, intelligent and affordable solutions for vehicles, machines, traffic and transportation. In 2022, Continental generated sales of €39.4 billion and currently employs around 200,000 people in 57 countries and markets.

About Imagry

Imagry (www.imagry.co), established in 2015 for high-end computer vision applications and specializing in the automotive sector since 2018, is an Autonomous Driving (AD) software provider that has created a mapless driving system. Bio-inspired technology combines a real-time vision-based perception network and imitation-learning artificial intelligence (AI) for a driving decision-making network that is economical, easily deployable, and scalable. Using low-cost sensors, it eliminates the need for external digital mapping of roads and cities. It can be installed on passenger cars as well as buses and shuttles.