The day approaches. A new era of mobility lies ahead. For years now, we’ve been fantasizing and planning for the autonomous vehicle future. Add that to Tesla and other EV makers' dynamic rise and still insane future potential, alongside improved battery and data insight technologies, and the next generation of automotive looks to be quite bright.

Still, there are many bumps along the road to success, but new technologies are offering innovative solutions to make the “drive a bit smoother”. From a way to “feel” the road to securing the autonomous mobility’s cyberspace, Israeli companies are developing the technology to power the next wave of automotive.

Shifting into gear

Just this past year we witnessed more than a few representatives of the Israeli AutoTech ecosystem ring the Wall Street bell, these included companies such as Innoviz and Otonomo, among others. One of those “others” was electric vehicle developer -- REE Automotive.

REE is innovating tomorrow’s zero-emission vehicles. REE’s goal is to empower global mobility companies to build any size or shape of electric or autonomous vehicle for any application and any target market. The company’s REEcorner technology packs traditional vehicle drive components (steering, braking, suspension, powertrain and control) into the arch of the wheel, allowing for the industry’s flattest EV platform. Fully scalable and completely modular, REE offers multiple customer benefits including complete vehicle design freedom, more space and volume with the smallest footprint, lower TCO, faster development times, ADAS compatibility, reduced maintenance and global safety standard compliance.

Light weight, flat EV platforms credit: Yoram Ashheim

Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, with subsidiaries in the USA, the UK and Germany. REE was founded in 2011 by CTO Ahishay Sardes and CEO Daniel Barel. The company has a unique CapEx-light manufacturing model that leverages its Tier 1 partners’ existing production lines. REE’s technology, together with their unique value proposition and commitment to excellence, positions REE to break new ground in e-Mobility.

SAIPS

SAIPS is a problem solver in the fields of computer vision and machine learning, with core expertise in design, research, development, and implementation of algorithmic solutions based on deep learning and reinforcement learning. SAIPS develops real-time algorithms for dynamic scene understanding, solving some of the most challenging problems in the industry, such as action recognition, detection, localization, tracking and prediction in adverse conditions, using 2D and 3D sensor data fusion.

The SAIPS team credit: Dana Berman

SAIPS was acquired by Ford in 2016 and since then takes a leading role in Ford’s autonomous vehicle programs. During its time at Ford, SAIPS successfully developed and released mapping, perception and planning modules, covering the entire spectrum of autonomous vehicle operation.The company was founded in 2013 by CEO Udy Danino, CTO Rotem Littman and US Branch Manager Noga Zieber-Bullkich.

COGNATA

Cognata is a global supplier of large-scale autonomous robotics simulation for the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) and autonomous vehicle markets. Working with leading automotive technology companies and Tier 1’s around the world, Cognata’s end to end robotics simulation platform accelerates time to market by delivering simulation solutions for the entire automated driving product lifecycle, from training to testing to deployment. Time, cost, and safety make physical testing an impossible standalone solution. Simulation is an essential complement. Cognata delivers large-scale simulation to responsibly accelerate the time to market of automated driving. Deploying safe and reliable automated driving systems requires training and testing over billions of miles and in a near-infinite number of corner cases.

Cognata simulation credit: Cognata

Cognata brings the disruptive power of artificial intelligence and computer vision to the ADAS and autonomous driving simulation world and shaves years off the verification and validation process. Cogenta was founded in 2016 by Danny Atzmon who also serves as the company’s CEO. To date, the company has raised more than $ 23 million over two rounds.

Tactile Mobility

Tactile Mobility's software provides automotive manufacturers with a tool to develop the next generation of autonomous vehicles. The platform collects first-order data using non-visual sensors including wheel speed, wheel angle, RPM, gear position, and other data points, to then analyze it and yield actionable insights in real-time. The Tactile Mobility insights provide a clear-cut, highly-accurate description and analysis of the continually evolving state of road dynamics, helping the vehicle "feel the road" and understand how to best preform. Furthermore, the company demonstrates high-quality data analysis that covers a wide array of actionable insight, from road planning and management to tracking tire conditions and vehicle ware, helping improve decision making for vehicle manufacturers, fleet managers, and even insurers.

Photo by Martin Katler / Unsplash

Tactile Mobility was co-founded in 2012 by Boaz Mizrachi, Yossi Shiri, and Alex Ackerman. The company is currently expanding into new markets, with partnerships that range from Porsche and BMW to European, British, and American municipalities.

GUARDKNOX

GuardKnox is a Cybertech Tier supplier that gives OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and the aftermarket the freedom to evolve. GuardKnox offers the knowhow, technologies, and solutions that allow the automotive industry to rapidly deliver revolutionary vehicle functionality on an affordable evolutionary budget. Getting its start in the aviation industry, the GuardKnox team has already experienced the challenge of integrating full connectivity into advanced moving platforms by providing new and ultra-fast communication networks, fast data-based systems with a patented Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), and high-performance computing—all with secure by design software and hardware development.

Founded in 2016 by Israel Air Force veterans Moshe Shlisel, Dionis Teshler, and Idan Nadav, GuardKnox is collaborating with top OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to support them in this automotive paradigm shift towards the service and software-defined vehicle. GuardKnox is based in Israel, with subsidiary locations in Stuttgart, Germany, and Detroit, Michigan.