Navya has secured EUR7.7m (US$8.9m) in mainly non-repayable subsidies for four major technological innovation projects, three of which are part of the France Relance programme.
The programme is a French government initiative, introduced by the Prime Minister in September, 2020 and worth EUR100bn as the country emerges from the pandemic.
The different initiatives are:
- The DLS project (Deep Learning Segmentation) aims to collect data from the road environment and to quantify detected obstacles by using Artificial Intelligence and Big Data modules. The objective is to feed the database and datasets to recognise changes in the road environment, dynamically modify the reference map and adapt the vehicle’s behaviour
- The 5G-AV project (5G for Autonomous Vehicles) intends to operationally implement the technological contributions of 5G in autonomous driving in partnership with Orange. In particular, remote assistance, cybersecurity and the processing of data analysed by Artificial Intelligence deported to the operators’ computing centres. This initiative will follow on from the level 4 fully autonomous experimentation carried out in Châteauroux in June, 2020. This project is a prize-winner of the France Relance programme
- The AIV project (Autonomous Industrial Vehicles) consists of developing a concept of tractors equipped with autonomous driving technologies and associated services, adapted to the specificities of applications in the airport, industrial, mass distribution and e-commerce sectors. This project will accelerate the development of the AT135 within the SOFVIA joint venture between Navya and Charlatte Manutention. This project is a prize-winner of the France Relance programme
- EFIBA (Emergence of the Autonomous Bus Sector) is an initiative led by a consortium composed of Actia, Bluebus and Keolis, looking to prepare the French sector for the autonomous bus market. The aim of this project is to develop and industrialise an automated version of the Bluebus electric vehicle, from design to marketing. This project is also a prize-winner of the France Relance programme
“I would like to thank the Ministers, Bruno Le Maire, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Cédric O and Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, who, through this France Relance funding, have recognised the quality of Navya’s expertise at the heart of tomorrow’s autonomous and connected vehicles,” said Navya CEO, Pierre Lahutte.
“These new resources will further reinforce Navya’s strong financial position in the final sprint to reach commercial Level 4 autonomous driving solutions.”
For her part, high representative for the Autonomous Vehicle Development Strategy, Anne-Marie Idrac, added: “The mobility sector is subject to major changes for which companies such as Navya provide innovative and concrete solutions.
“Already recognised for the technological advances it has achieved, in particular with the first fully autonomous level 4 operation launched in June, 2020, Navya will be able, thanks to this public funding, to contribute even more to the development of autonomous vehicles in France and thus defend a French development model for autonomous mobility.”