Ficosa International, an automotive systems and components maker, and OMRON Corporation, a vehicle electronics maker, have created a joint venture to develop, produce and commercialize driver assistance technology for the automotive industry. The equal-partnership alliance will combine the Spanish Ficosa and Japanese OMRON companies’ experience in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) to improve and expand on the technology. The new company will benefit from Ficosa’s sector know-how and knowledge and experience in integrating systems and components in the vehicle, and OMRON’s leadership in electronics, sensors and technology vision cameras. The partnership aims to supply technologies and systems to global vehicle manufacturers for models currently under development. By 2012, 15% of all new vehicles around the world are expected to incorporate ADAS technology.
The project will focus on detecting, recognizing and informing drivers of what is happening in the 360 degrees around the vehicle, allowing the driver to react as needed to avoid accidents, improving safety for all vehicle occupants. Among the systems and functions the new company will develop are blind spot detection, lane departure warning, parking assistance, start-up warning, vehicle recognition, traffic sign recognition, rear monitor, front light recognition, short-range observation and pedestrian recognition, all with the added value of integrating several functions, such as those related to front vision, in a unique system. Slated to be headquartered in Germany, the company will have a subsidiary in Spain and utilize both Ficosa and OMRON’s global network of technical and production centers in Europe, Asia, South America and the NAFTA area (USA, Canada and Mexico). For more information, visit OMRON or Ficosa online. |
