Mobileye is an Israeli technology company that develops vision-based advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) providing warnings for collision prevention and mitigation. Mobileye N.V. headquarters and main R&D centre is located in Jerusalem operating under the company name Mobileye Vision Technology Ltd. The company has also sales and marketing offices in Jericho, New York; Shanghai, China; Tokyo, Japan and Düsseldorf, Germany.
In March 2017, Intel announced that they had agreed to a US$15.3 billion takeover of Mobileye. The deal is expected to be the largest exit in Israel's high-tech industry to date.
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History
Mobileye N.V. was founded in 1999 by Amnon Shashua (a researcher of the Hebrew University), when he evolved his academic research into a technical solution for a vision system which could detect vehicles using only a camera and software algorithms on a processor. After receiving a license to use the technology which was owned by Yissum it was possible to incorporate the company. Together with Ziv Aviram, he set up the company's R&D headquarters in Jerusalem, Israel.
At first, the company developed algorithms, and a custom accelerator processor chip called the EyeQ chip. All of Mobileye's proprietary image processing algorithms run on the EyeQ chip. After years of testing, the chip and software algorithms began to be sold as commercial products to original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers. The company's first clients were automotive manufacturers such as BMW, General Motors and Volvo. These companies electronics suppliers integrated Mobileye's technologies into the companies' cars, at first as an optional accessory when buying a new car, and later as a standard option in new cars.
In 2006, Mobileye set up an aftermarket department, which sells finished products manufactured by Mobileye at their Philippines factory, IMI. The aftermarket products are sold to an international network of distributors on all continents who sell the products to fleets of trucks and buses, to car dealerships, and to car accessory shops.
In August 2015, Tesla Motors announced that it is using Mobileye's technology to enable its self-drive solution, which would be incorporated into Model S cars from August 2015. After the first deadly crash of a self-driving Model S with active Autopilot became public in June 2016, Mobileye issued a statement that its technology won't be able to recognize a crossing trailer (which was the cause of the accident) until 2018. In July 2016, Mobileye announced the end of its partnership with Tesla after the EyeQ3. EyeQ is used in over 15 million vehicles sold as of 2017.
In January 2017, Mobileye, BMW and Intel announced that they were developing a test fleet of autonomous vehicles that would be on the road in the second half of 2017. The companies plan to develop autonomous vehicles for the consumer market by 2021. In March 2017, Intel announced their recent deals to buy Mobileye for $15.3 billion. The deal was completed August 8.
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Company timeline
- 1999: Mobileye NV co-founded by Mr. Ziv Aviram and Prof. Amnon Shashua
- 1999 (June): Introduction of the first generation Live Demonstration System
- 1999: Mobileye received a license from Yissum to be able to use the technology.
- 2000: Introduction of the second generation Live Demonstration System
- 2001 (February): Introduction of the third generation Live Demonstration System
- 2001 (May): Introduction of the fourth generation Live Demonstration System
- 2002: Introduction of the fifth generation Live Demonstration System for Multi-Vision Applications
- 2003: Mobileye and Denso sign cooperation agreement
- 2003: Mobileye and Delphi sign cooperation agreement
- 2004: Introduction of the first generation EyeQTM System-on-a-Chip (SoC)
- 2004: Mobileye and SVDO/Continental sign a development agreement
- 2005: Mobileye and ST Microelectrionics sign a chip manufacture and development partnership agreement
- 2006: Introduction of the sixth generation Live Demonstration System for Pedestrian Detection
- 2006: Introduction of Mobileye's Aftermarket Department
- 2006 (July): Mobileye and Magna Electronics announce partnership to develop advanced automotive driver assistance features
- 2007: U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs invests $100 million in Mobileye
- 2007: Mobileye launches multiple series productions for LDW on GM Cadillac STS and DTS vehicles, for LDW on BMW 5 and 6 Series vehicles and for radar-vision fusion for enhanced Adaptive Cruise Control with Collision Mitigation by Braking on Volvo S80, XC90/70/60 and V70 vehicles
- 2007: Introduction of the Mobileye Advanced Warning System providing a world's first Aftermarket system featuring functions of lane and vehicle Detection running on a single processor
- 2008 (September): Mobileye and Continental launch a world's first combination of multiple functions of Lane Departure Warning, Intelligent Highbeam Control and Traffic Sign Recognition on the BMW 7 series
- 2008: Introduction of the second generation EyeQ2TM System-on-a-Chip (SoC)
- 2009: Mobileye and Visteon sign cooperation agreement
- 2010: U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs, Leumi Partners and Menora Mivtachim Holdings Ltd. invest $37 million in Mobileye
- 2010: Mobileye launches newest aftermarket product, the C2-270 Collision Prevention System, with vehicle, pedestrian, bicycle, and motorcycle detection capabilities.
- 2010: Mobileye launches a world-first vision based Pedestrian Forward Collision Warning as part of a radar-vision 'automatic emergency braking system' with Delphi and Volvo on the S60 saloon and V60 estate
- 2010: Mobileye launches Lane Keeping and Support (LKAS) on two HKMC vehicles (Hyundai i40 and Kia Optima) for US and European introduction.
- 2011: Mobileye launches the world's first vision only based forward collision warning system (bundled with multiple other functions of LDW IHC and TSR) on the 2011 BMW 1 series
- 2011: Mobileye launches the world's first vision only based U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) compliant Forward Collision Warning system and lane departure warning system combination on multiple GM vehicles - Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain.
- 2011: Mobileye launches multi functional bundles including vision based FCW on the Opel Zafira and Opel Insignia.
- 2014: Mobileye launched its IPO on the NYSE which was the biggest Israeli IPO ever in the US raising approx. $1B at a market cap of $5.3B
- 2017: Acquired by Intel for $15.3B
Technologies
The firm's technology is based on the use of optical vision systems with motion detection algorithms running on a custom hardware accelerator - the EyeQ chip. This is unlike many other competing systems which use a combination of visual detection, radar, and laser scanning. The firm's vehicle detection algorithms recognize motorised vehicles such as cars, motorcycles and trucks, in day and night time conditions. The firm's version performs its vehicle detection based functions using a single camera mounted in the rear view mirror, unlike the usual approach of using radars, laser scanners or in some cases stereo-cameras.
In 2011 the firm introduced the world's first OEM production of vision-only forward collision warning system (NHTSA compliant) on multiple BMW, GM and Opel vehicles.
Lane departure warning systems are in-vehicle electronic systems that monitor the position of a vehicle within a roadway lane and warn a driver if the vehicle deviates or is about to deviate outside the lane. Mobileye's version was launched in multiple production platforms through 2007 and 2008 with GM, BMW and Volvo.
The firm's pedestrian detection technology is based on the use of mono cameras only, using pattern recognition and classifiers with image processing and optic flow analysis. Both static and moving pedestrians can be detected to a range of around 30m using VGA resolution imagers. The firm announced in 2008 that by mid-2010 they would launch a world's first application of full emergency braking for collision mitigation for pedestrians. Mobileye announced in May 2009 as part of the next generation Volvo radar-vision fusion system which also provides lane departure warning and vehicle detection with radar-vision fusion for an enhanced collision mitigation by braking system on the next Volvo S60 vehicle.
Since 2008, BMW 7-Series cars are equipped with the Mobileye traffic sign recognition systems, developed in cooperation with automotive supplier Continental AG.
Adaptive highbeam systems automatically raises and lowering the high beams without inconveniencing oncoming or preceding traffic. The firm's version, Intelligent Headlight Control, is in production on the BMW 7 series.
In 2011, the firm introduced multi-functional bundles including vision based FCW on the Opel Zafira and Opel Insignia.
In 2016, Mobileye announced a deal to work with Renault Nissan on digital maps that will help the automaker's move towards driverless cars.
Aftermarket
Since 2007 the firm has offered a range of aftermarket vision based ADAS systems, based on the same core technology as for production models. They currently offer lane departure warning, forward collision warning, headway monitoring and warning, low speed urban collision warning, intelligent headlamp control, speed limit indication (tsr) and pedestrian collision warning (including bicycles). These systems have also been integrated with fleet management systems.
Investments
Between 2007 and 2011 the company raised $160 million. In 2013 the company sold 25% of its private shares for $400 million to a group of blue-chip investors. One of Mobileye's biggest investors was Colmobil CEO Shmuel Harlap, who held a 7.2% stake. Following the acquisition, he'll become Israel's newest billionaire, joining co-founders Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram in the billionaire's club.
Awards
- International Fleet Industry Award, Fleet Europe, November 2013
- International Fleet Industry Award, Fleet Europe, October 2011.
- Fleet Safety Forum Award for Excellence in the UK, for the Fleet Safety Product category, for the Mobileye C2-170 safety system. Brake - Road Safety Charity -, July 2009.
- Best Electronic Design 2008 for Best Automotive Design, for the EyeQ2 Vision Processor. Electronic Design, December 2008.
- Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award in the Automotive Industry. Frost & Sullivan, December 2006.
- Selected for the Top 100 Innovators Award. Red Herring Magazine, December 2005.
Competition
Mobileye faces competition from Tier 1 automotive suppliers as well as from other technology companies, including potentially Google. There is also an increasing competition on the after-market space from radar-based systems manufacturers, such as Safe Drive Systems and others. Other competitors developing ADAS technology include Cognitive Technologies, Continental AG, Bosch, NVIDIA, OmniVision Technologies, Freescale, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Renesas Electronics Corp., Denso, Green Hills Software, Intel (not a competition after the acquisition of Mobileye by Intel), Qualcomm, and TomTom.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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