AI in autonomous vehicles – a vehicle that drives itself without a human driver- has caught the attention of top research institutes and automotive companies across the globe as one of the most innovative areas in AI technology. Yet, it’s still a niche that many companies are missing out on as they look to expand into this lucrative field. Let’s take a look at some of the top Canadian AI companies working on developing AI for autonomous vehicles and some examples of their leading-edge products and services.
What are the best Canadian Ai Companies For Autonomous Vehicles?
Gatik
Gatik is the market leader in automated Middle Mile logistics. It uses a fleet of light- and medium-duty Autonomous Box Trucks to deliver goods safely and quickly. The company focuses on short-haul B2B logistics for companies like Loblaw and Walmart in the Fortune 500. Gatik’s fleet is used for business in Ontario, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, among other places.
The company was started in Palo Alto in 2017 by people who had worked in the autonomous technology industry for a long time. It has a long-term presence in Ontario and, in 2021 opened a new world-class research and development facility in the west end of Toronto. Gatik was named to the Forbes AI 50 list for 2021 and a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer.
Acerta
Greta Cutulenco, named one of 2019’s 30 under 30 for Manufacturing by Forbes and one of Automotive News’s Canadians to Watch, helped start the company.
Acerta uses data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to find hidden value in production data. At first, Acerta worked with the award-winning engineering R&D labs at the University of Waterloo to do groundbreaking research on pattern recognition and finding outliers. Today, the automotive and off-road vehicle industries use cloud-based software from Acerta to find early signs of product failure and improve the quality of parts. In precision manufacturing, Acerta’s ML/AI platform solves problems once thought too hard to solve.
SmartCone’s AutoGuardian
AutoGuardian gives people smart ways to get where they need to go that are safer, smarter, and better for the environment. Its unique offering includes autonomous shuttle operations ready to go and an intelligent infrastructure that can connect to the Internet of Things. This lets more data be collected and lets vulnerable road users know that shuttles are coming by using audio and visual cues. The routes of the shuttles can also be fully monitored. These smart warning systems give people in cars, C/AVs, bikes, and on foot the time they need to act and stay safe. AutoGuardian helps push the world toward a more automated future by giving it an extra set of eyes.
Cyberworks Robotics
Cyberworks Robotics is a pioneer in autonomous self-driving technology for off-road vehicles and mobile commercial equipment, including wheelchairs, hospital beds, and driverless agricultural tractors. The Cyberworks Robotics Retrofit Autonomous Vehicle System (RAVS) gives original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) a unique, reliable, and affordable way to turn manually operated machinery into AI-powered self-driving technology in weeks instead of years.
Cyberworks licenses its self-driving technology to OEMs and large fleet clients for a small fraction of the cost of hiring a human driver. Cyberworks Robotics makes full autonomy possible for specialty vehicle OEMs and fleet operators worldwide because their technology can be used in many different ways.
LeddarTech
LeddarTech is the leader in platforms that can sense the environment for self-driving cars and advanced driver assistance systems. Since it was founded in 2007, LeddarTech has grown into a complete end-to-end environmental sensing solution company that helps customers solve critical sensing and perception problems across the entire value chain of the automotive, off-road, industrial vehicle, and mobility markets.
With its LeddarVisionTM sensor-fusion and perception platform and its cost-effective, scalable, and flexible LiDAR development way to solve for automotive-grade solid-state LiDARs based on the LeddarEngineTM, LeddarTech makes it possible for OEMs, Tier 1-2, and automotive system integrators to create full-stack sensing solutions for autonomy levels 1 to 5.
Companies have already started using the firm’s solutions in self-driving shuttles, trucks, buses, delivery vans, smart cities and factories, robotaxis, and other places. They are also being worked on by leading automotive Tiers and OEMs. LeddarTech is also in charge of several innovative automotive and mobility remote-sensing applications. It has over 100 patents (granted or pending) for technologies that improve ADAS and autonomous driving.
NuPort Robotics
NuPort Robotics is the first company in Canada to be made up of self-driving trucks. Their AI technology makes it possible for existing trucks to drive themselves, and it works best for short-distance shuttle runs between distribution centers, warehouses, and terminals.
In March 2021, NuPort Robotics announced that it would work with Canadian Tire Corporation and the Ontario government through AVIN on a two-year project that would cost $3 million. NuPort Robotics will use its own AI technology to retrofit two standard semi-tractor trailers with high-tech sensors and controls, a touchscreen navigation system, and many other new features.
Provectus Robotics Solutions.
The pioneer in sophisticated robotic system design, integration, and control is Provectus Robotics Solutions Inc. Ottawa-based company that provides software and services to the aerospace, agricultural, industrial, mining, military, and security industries robotic control. Since 2010, Provectus has helped design and develop many robotic platforms while sending systems to customers worldwide. Provectus is the preferred development partner for robotic system integrators worldwide because of its experience and mature technology base.
Sensor Cortek
Self-driving cars must be capable of accurately detecting their surroundings to be safe. Sensor Cortek aims to use AI to make advanced driver assistance and self-driving cars safer. With the help of AVIN, Sensor Cortek and the French auto parts company Valeo worked together to make high-definition imaging radars with deep neural networks that can work in bad lighting and weather. The weather in Ottawa, Ontario, is a great place for the company to build a large set of radar images of driving in different urban situations.