Automotive News Canada - November 2022 - 34

34
* NOVEMBER 2022
LeddarTech's hard choice:
Software over hardware
New business model shifts focus
to 'raw-data fusion as the key way
forward' for autonomous vehicles
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
QUEBEC-BASED TECHNOLOGY COMPANY
LeddarTech is stepping away from the lidar-components
business to focus on software to make autonomous-vehicle
and advanced driver-assist systems
(ADAS) more accurate and cheaper.
LeddarTech is shifting to what it sees as a major
growth area in automotive, but that largely moves
it out of a segment it has served for years. The software-focused
business model also resulted in dozens
of layoffs at company offices worldwide.
For the past two years, LeddarTech had one division
focused on lidar
components and another
on software that
fuses together " raw "
data from vehicle sensors,
CEO Charles
Boulanger said. Having
dual priorities with
limited investment
resources was " putting
more at risk on both
sides. "
Boulanger: LeddarTech
refocused its strategy
toward data-fusion
software because having
one division focused on
lidar components and
another on software was
" putting more at risk on
both sides. "
SUPPLIED PHOTO
Lidar, an abbreviation
for light detection
and ranging, is
key technology used in
autonomous vehicles
to map their physical
proximity to the environment
and vehicles
around them.
" We came to the conclusion,
given that the
industry is now seeing
raw data fusion as the
key way forward, ... we
should put all of our
effort on it. "
LeddarTech laid off
about 50 people in early October as it formalized the
transition, Boulanger told Automotive News Canada.
About half the layoffs were at the company's
Quebec City hub, with others at offices in Montreal,
Ottawa, Germany and China. LeddarTech transferred
about 30 employees from its lidar components
unit, which designed systems on chips for lidar makers
and Tier 1 and 2 suppliers, to its data-processing
segment. It did not reallocate the employees who
specialized in hardware. The company now employs
about 220 people at its offices worldwide.
LeddarTech is not completely out of the lidar-components
business, however. It's currently in discussions
with partners looking to license the technology,
which will enable the business line to continue,
Boulanger said. The company also aims to spin off
its " profitable and growing " module business, which
designs lidar units for nonautomotive applications
such as traffic management and mobility.
SOFTWARE COMBINES DATA FROM ALL SENSORS
LeddarTech's expertise is in fusing sensor data
from lidar, radar and cameras into digital models
that AVs can use to navigate safely. The company
has been doing in-house development on such software
for years but accelerated its work through a
2020 acquisition of Israel-based VayaVision.
" For the [automaker], it's really about how we
combine these sensors to reconstruct the environment
around the car in real time, " Boulanger said.
In ADAS systems today, he said, each sensor perceives
its environment independently from other
sensors on the vehicle, which can lead to partial or
contradictory readings. LeddarTech's LeddarVision
raw-data-fusion software relies on artificial intelligence
(AI) and computer-vision algorithms to blend
data from separate sensors in a way that gives AVs
and ADAS systems a more complete view of their
environment.
" Instead of trying to perceive what the sensor
sees and then fuse the object, we do the opposite, "
Boulanger said. " We fuse the raw signals of all these
sensors, and we re-create ... an abstracted relative
model or a digital twin. "
LeddarTech's software lets automakers reduce the
number of sensors they put on a vehicle while still
creating a more accurate model of the environment
than current systems, he said.
NO LONGER HAVING TO START OVER
The process addresses a key scaling issue as automakers
outfit more models with ADAS technology,
Boulanger said.
The traditional route of operating each sensor
independently is a " dead-end street, " because automakers
are forced to " start all over again " to retrain
the sensors to work with every new model and every
new generation of vehicle. This retraining can take
millions of test kilometres to ensure that autonomous
systems make the right decision in even the
unlikeliest of situations, which are known in the
industry as edge cases.
LeddarVision requires no such validation,
Boulanger said.
" You can use the same architecture and change
behind it, the sensor set, the configuration, the positioning.
You have some retraining to do, but it's minimal.
You don't lose all the edge cases that your millions
of miles have given you. "
LeddarTech would not identify the automotive
companies it is working with but said it is collaborating
with automakers and Tier 1 suppliers to replace
older automated systems with its data-fusion technology.
LeddarVision, an example of what is known
as middleware, is designed to live on an automaker's
wider software platform and work with sensors from
all companies.
The software, which the company plans to license
on a per-vehicle basis, is scheduled to roll out in offroad
vehicles next year and in production passenger
vehicles in 2024. - ANC
Cost of Ford EV investment
'is really the issue' for dealers
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
of the investment is for charging
infrastructure, including DC
fast chargers that will allow
dealers to become part of Ford's
BlueOval Charge Network.
EVs require specialized equipment,
training and charging
infrastructure to support sales,
service and ownership for its
Model e customers, the company
said in an email.
BIG DEAL FOR SMALL STORES
But there's concern the
programs are too costly for
small-market dealers, especially
when low EV sales make it
tougher to recoup the investment.
" I
don't see a big demand in
our area, " said Cliff Lafreniere,
dealer principal of Pinewood
Park Motors in Kirkland Lake,
Ont.
" I get two or three inquiries
a year. I've sold one EV - a
[F-150] Lightning.
" The amount of the investment
is really the issue, " he
said.
" I don't think dealers are
excited about [Ford's] first position, "
said Vaughn Wyant, president
of the Wyant Group in
Saskatoon, Sask. The group
has a Ford dealership in Prince
Albert and one in Saskatoon.
With limited charging facilities
in Saskatchewan
and no provincial purchase
incentives,
" Electrification is going
to be slower to come to a
lot of rural dealers, " he
said.
Dealers told Automotive
News Canada that concerns
are being addressed
by the Ford Dealers
RoundTable Association.
Mike Herniak, head of the
association, said he was
bound by confidentiality
agreements regarding
negotiations and declined
to comment.
There's a question of the
value of the investment to sell
Ford EVs. " Electrification is
going to be slower to come to
a lot of rural dealers, " said
Vaughn Wyant, president of
the Wyant Group.
PHOTO: WYANT GROUP
sent a letter to Ford CEO Jim
Farley and other executives
asking them to reconsider the
program and revise the rules,
according to a story in sibling
publication Automotive News.
Separately, in late October,
a group of executives representing
dealer associations in
Virginia and 11 other Southern
states asked Ford to " reconsider
the Ford Model e program as
it is currently described, " saying
it " includes unreasonable
restrictions on dealer autonomy. "
BIG
DEALERSHIPS ON BOARD
Meanwhile, some larger dealership
groups in Canada say
they are ready to buy in.
" I don't really have a problem
with them [the programs]
at all, " said
Steve Chipman, CEO
of the Manitoba-based
Birchwood Automotive
Group, which owns three
rural Ford dealerships in
the province and one in
Winnipeg.
Chipman:
" Ford has
to be openminded.
One
size
doesn't
fit all. "
FILE PHOTO
U.S. DEALERS PUSH BACK
The pressure to amend the
programs reflects strong blowback
in the United States. Ford
recently announced it would
extend the original Oct. 31 deadline
to Dec. 2 for U.S. dealers to
decide on participation.
In October, the Virginia
Automobile Dealers Association
Although there is no
guarantee that investing
in the EV infrastructure
will guarantee more business,
Chipman said, that
is the cost of owning a
franchise. As Birchwood
renovates its stores, wiring
for fast chargers is
installed, even if the automaker
does not yet require it, he said.
Birchwood has 24 dealerships
representing 22 brands.
Chipman said he is sympathetic
to smaller dealerships,
because circumstances for each
dealership varies.
" Ford has to be open-minded, "
Chipman said. " One size doesn't
fit all. " - ANC
A trial will decide 'a reasonable way' to deal with Nissan timing chains
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
The case involves the Maxima, Altima,
Quest, Pathfinder, Xterra and Frontier for
various model years from 2004 to 2010.
Writing for a unanimous panel, Justice
Susan Griffin said, " The evidence is that
in the time frame covered by the proposed
class, Nissan vehicles experienced
higher-than-expected warranty claims
related to the timing chain mechanisms
and issued a series of Technical Service
Bulletins [TSBs] to dealerships, qualified
technicians and Transport Canada,
addressing issues with the timing chain
mechanisms. "
" The TSBs indicate that noise in the
engine is a symptom of the timing chain
mechanism failure, requiring replacement
of the part, " she wrote in the court's Oct. 5
ruling.
Nissan countered that Mueller
didn't show " some basis in fact for
the assertion that the class vehicles
showed a common defect, or that
the defect was dangerous, " the decision
said.
However, the court cited testimony
from Mueller, a second person
who purchased a used Nissan vehicle and
a certified automotive service technician
supporting the allegations that the vehicles
were defective.
" The essence of the claim is that the
defective part has failed or will likely fail
before the expected lifetime of the product,
and failure of the part could result in
significant harm to persons or property, "
the court said. " The claim pleads that the
timing chain is an 'integral part'
and an 'essential component' of the
vehicles " and " the defective part
must be replaced to avoid the risk
of potential harm. "
A trial is necessary to decide
what would be " a reasonable way
of dealing with the defect, including
the scope of a remedy, " the decision said.
The suit also contends that Nissan's
alleged failure to warn new-vehicle buyers
misrepresented that the vehicles were safe
and that purchasers wouldn't have bought
their vehicles if they had been aware of the
misrepresentation.
The appellate decision modified a ruling
by a lower court judge who had allowed all
Mueller's claims to go forward.
The suit seeks an unspecified amount of
compensatory damages for economic loss,
inconvenience and mental distress, as well
as punitive damages - claiming Nissan
" prioritized corporate profits over the protection
and security " of vehicle owners.
Nissan opposed certifying the case as a
class action, arguing in court documents
that there is no evidence the vehicles
shared the same alleged defect.
" Not all the vehicles came with the
same primary timing chain design and
therefore they do not all contain the same
component parts, " the company said.
- ANC
Automotive News Canada - November 2022

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