We recently had an opportunity to sit down with Andrea Conti, Vice President for ADAS and AD at AVL to discuss his role at the company and his view of advancing autonomous driving technology in Europe, the U.S., and other global regions.
Andrea, could you describe your typical daily responsibilities?
Sure! As Vice President for ADAS and AD for the engineering business unit of the AVL group I need to make sure, that AVL’s targets and ambitions are globally met! I am the main responsible for the global ADAS/AD strategy, and I must ensure that all AVL affiliates are sharing our strategy, expertise, and business potential within the local markets.
Strong communication and a long-term approach are key for the success of ADAS and AD within the AVL group.
What sparked your interest in the AV industry, and how did you start your journey in this field?
Well, the area of autonomous driving has been a well-perceived companion for more than a decade. To be able to actively influence the reduction of accidents on the roads is an excellent motivation for me. I remember my first experience with my daughter in my car, trying the first versions of the parallel parking pilot…I was like a wizard. This fascinated me already at that point in time.
Could you elaborate on the significance of the AVL ZalaZONE proving ground in the context of AVL’s plans for advancing autonomous driving technology?
Andrea:Â Within AVL we are providing a comprehensive portfolio of ADAS and AD activities such as model-based systems engineering, function and SW development, simulation, integration, and verification and verification with a clear focus on the system view. With well-defined strategies and investment plans we were able to boost the investments towards ZalaZONE in Hungary. This state-of-the-art proving ground is giving me and the AVL ADAS/AD Team the possibility to push the verification and validation (V&V) of L0-L4 features under professional and repeatable conditions.
GSR, NCAP and comfort feature testing belongs to the daily routine of our activities.
The fact that we can provide a seamless approach on V&V has been valued and rewarded from our clients so far. ADAS and AD testing in ZalaZONE offers the most intense testing program on the ADAS surface as well as the smart city.
PAVE Europe: Among the potential benefits of autonomous vehicles, which one excites you the most, and why?
Very good question, which probably everybody will answer differently as the AD features are bringing considerable positive aspects to modern mobility. For me, the most exciting one is to gain additional time while driving for doing other things such as reading e-mails without been worried about car accidents. In this respect, the topic of “trust” is very important. AVL is working intensively to explore the boundaries of trustful behaviors of AD features through our AVL-DRIVE product.
PAVE Europe: Which differences do you see with regards to the challenges faced by AV development in Europe, the US, and other global regions?
One of the major challenges for AD features is located there, where the legal patterns of validation and verification are defined. While in Europe we are already a step ahead with legal boundaries such as the GSR rel2 we as AVL are facing that our customers are exposed to legal uncertainties in Asia and America. The modern OEMs who are not located in Europe are struggling intensively with the tradeoff of affordability and quality of the AV features, which requires an intense and costly V&V program.
By the way: AVL is having a legal department, which is fostering the legal conditions of all markets worldwide and release a comprehensive overview about the current status quo of ADAS and AD features.
PAVE Europe: What motivated AVL to become a part of PAVE Europe, and what role do you think this collaboration will play in the advancement of AV technology?
A precise decision was taken last year to join PAVE in Europe and in the USA. The clear aim of the AVL group is to contribute to the deployment of this fascinating technology and engage with an excellent network of companies, who are facing the same challenges but also strive for the same goals. We are looking forward to continuing to be part of the PAVE organization. Let’s shape the future mobility together!
PAVE Europe is a broad coalition with the goal of bringing the conversation about automated vehicles (AVs) to the public to ensure that everyone can play a role in shaping our future. Visit our website to find out more.
