On his visit to the Automotive World Expo 2020 held at Japan earlier this year, Rahul Chopra discovered the new, innovative offering called e-mirror from iWaySense built especially for autonomous vehicles. Here are excerpts from his visit.
Q. What is special about the e-mirror solution?
A. We use FPGA devices from Xilinx to implement the whole solution. We provide 140db dynamic range and at the same time with LED flicker mitigation. When you are trying to identify the traffic signals or headlights there will be flickering and it is a safety issue. So by using our technology, this flicker will be cancelled and you can see the details clearly. The other key feature is low latency with 19.5 milliseconds from scene to eye, which is lowest in the industry. We are also AEC-Q100 certified.
Q. Since this solution has a single chip, is it cheaper compared to ASIC solutions?
A. Yes, the FPGA has a feature called dynamic function exchange. It means we can reprogram that FPGA to perform different functions. For example, when we are in the forward gear we can use this device as an e-mirror for blind spot detection and vehicle detection. When we shift to the reverse gear, we can reprogram the device into a cross target detection function or pedestrian detection function.
Q. So it works like an ADAS?
A. Yes. We can use more devices to implement many complex functionalities.
Q. Basically your single chip acts like multiple chips?
A. Yes, one acts like many.
Q. How much time did it take to develop this solution?
A. It took us one whole year.
Q. Is this a first generation or second generation device?
A. This is the second generation that we are demonstrating.
Q. Has this particular application been used somewhere?
A. The previous generation (of this device) has been mass produced in a car model called as Camry from Toyota in Guangzhou, China. This e-mirror was installed during the pre-delivery inspection before they were sent out for sale.
Q. What is your roadmap to going forward?
A. We have standard connectors and you can connect up to four cameras. With this, we can switch from the rear mirror (based on the camera) to side mirrors and front mirror. We can add more features and functions to the device by using dynamic function exchange feature of FPGA.
Q. Who would be your typical customer – OEMs making e-mirrors or the car manufacturers?
A. Basically Tier-1 and OEM companies.
Q. If a customer in India or any other country wants to try out your technology, how can they contact you to test your technology?
A. They can visit us at www.iwaysense.com and contact us there. We can then send samples to try out our technology.
