Innovation / Produits et Technologie | 3 Jan, 2023 | 5 min
From January 3 to 8, 2023, Valeo is taking part in the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), a major tech event held every year in Las Vegas. The Group is presenting its innovations for safer, more sustainable mobility, all of which feature mechatronics, electronics and software. At this year’s CES, Valeo is bringing proof that it has become a global mobility player. Valeo’s technologies are no longer just for cars – it can now equip all new forms of mobility and move beyond the realm of automobiles by integrating its products and technologies into infrastructures to create new services.
Electronics, software and artificial intelligence are essential to driving assistance and vehicle autonomy. They will represent 30% of a car’s value in 2030, up from 10% today. Among the many innovations on show at CES 2023, Valeo will exhibit for the first time anywhere in the world Pantomime, a solution that uses an algorithm to understand the movements of vulnerable road users such as cyclists. Automated vehicles will be able to anticipate the actions of these road users, ensuring safe and efficient navigation. Pantomime is also able to understand and follow the instructions of authorities such as police officers.
Another innovation on display at CES which is essential to automating the vehicle’s vision and whose real-time perception capabilities visitors will be able to try out themselves is the third-generation LiDAR laser scanner – SCALA 3 LiDAR. This new version of a key component in the sensor system enables vehicles to achieve approval for level 3 conditional driving automation. Unveiled in November 2021, the technology has been chosen by Stellantis to equip multiple models of its different automotive brands from 2024. Thanks to its laser beams, the third-generation LiDAR can see things that other technology and the human eye cannot – from over 150 meters away, it can identify an object left on an unlit black asphalt road that neither cameras, radars nor the driver can detect.
Valeo will also exhibit a prototype showcasing all of its expertise in high-voltage electrification technologies, as well as its comprehensive management of thermal systems, which are essential for electric vehicle performance. This prototype will also give visitors the chance to discover Valeo’s fourth-generation onboard charger. In addition to charging the battery, the charger reinjects energy into the vehicle network, which allows to supply energy to the smart grids of the future. The most powerful and compact version (40% more power density compared with the previous generation) is being developed for a US automaker. The prototype is also equipped with another innovation: Valeo’s silicon carbide inverter, which provides efficiency gains of 5%.
Using the NVIDIA DRIVE Sim platform, Valeo is also offering visitors a virtual experience in the field of lighting. Thanks to an artificial intelligence software, visitors will be able to optimize a vehicle’s style and functions and visualize them precisely in real time. Valeo has developed artificial intelligence systems to define and visualize holistic designs in real time by combining style, functionality and materials. These cutting-edge systems are accelerating the virtual development of lighting solutions, meaning that prototypes can be built at the latest possible stage, which in turn helps reduce the cost of developing such solutions.
Valeo’s technologies are also set to be used in the infrastructure that is essential to the smart cities of tomorrow. At CES, the Group is announcing an agreement with ZutaCore to research and bring to market a new method for cooling data centers. The aim is to increase their performance and reduce their environmental impact. Data centers use increasingly powerful microprocessors that require more efficient thermal systems for cooling. Valeo has considerable expertise in high-performance thermal systems, especially for cooling vehicle battery cells. It is now turning its hand to thermal optimization for servers. The solution being studied by the two partners, on display at Valeo’s stand, could consume up to five times less energy than air cooling solutions and unlock five times more computing power for a given volume.
At CES, Valeo will also premiere Smart Pole, an innovative concept made possible by French Tech. Developed with partners Equans, GHM, Eclatec and Lacroix City, Smart Pole makes mobility safer for all users of the city of tomorrow: pedestrians, droids, autonomous shuttles, micro-mobility operators, etc. It is a package of sensors and technologies (ultrasonic belt sensor, smart lighting including on-the-ground projection, a charging station, composite material and more), which offers near-range motion detection, smart public space lighting and safe pedestrian crossing in urban areas. Thanks to its detection sensors, Smart Pole observes the environment in real time and is able to signal whether a pedestrian can safely cross or not. This innovation can bring new services to cities and communities, such as recording the number of cars passing by in order to provide real-time road traffic information, controlling traffic lights to ease traffic flow (green wave), and facilitating parking space management.
Come and discover our solutions and meet our teams at the Valeo stands:
Central Plaza – stand CP17, Las Vegas Convention Center
Piero’s Parking – lot 355, Las Vegas Convention Center Drive