Magna to reveal plug-and-play autonomous tech

Major auto industry supplier Magna International claims to have developed a plug-and-play Level 4 self-driving package that will make it faster, cheaper and easier for car-makers to build autonomous cars.

It plans to unveil the Max4 self-driving system at the Frankfurt motor show in two weeks, with LiDar, radar, cameras and ultrasonic sensors combining into a computer platform Magna claims will be flexible and scalable.

Magna claims its system will be able to mate up to existing and future vehicle architectures, whether they be internal-combustion, plug-in hybrid, mild hybrid or battery-electric cars.

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Said to be capable of delivering self-driving capability in both city and highway driving, the Max4 system is scalable for volume production, too.

“Our focus is on developing production-ready solutions that offer flexibility to integrate and the framework to enable Level 4 technology for when the market is ready,” said Magna’s chief technology officer, Swamy Kotagiri.

Its system includes the option of a driver-interface similar to current cruise-control switches, so it can be turned on at the touch of a single button, while a display light shows when the system is working.

Like cruise control, it can be deactivated by touching the brake pedal or an emergency switch.

Level 4 autonomous driving means the car can perform all safety and driving functions for any trip of any length without driver input once the navigation data has been entered into the car.

Magna is no autonomous rookie, either, having begun development in 1999 and recently had a test mule drive with Level 3 autonomy for almost 500km between Ontario and Michigan, where it drove itself for 92 per cent of the trip.

“Magna is evolving from the parts company it still is and will continue to be, as we become a total vehicle-capable organization,” said Tom Toma, Magna’s global product manager for automated driving. “We’re becoming more of a software company.”

Magna isn’t the only major supplier hawking its Level 4 wares, with Bosch, Siemens, Denso, Delphi and Continental all in the same race, along with non-traditional players like Alphabet’s Waymo and Baidu of China.

The Canadian company is the world’s third-biggest automotive supplier and is even a contract car-maker, with its Austrian plant building cars for both BMW and Jaguar Land Rover.