Volvo Cars announced that it now fully owns Zenseact, an autonomous driving software development company. Volvo previously owned 86.5% of the company and acquired the remaining stake from ECARX, a global mobility tech company.
Volvo said the acquisition is a strategic step towards owning more of its software that will power key functionalities in future cars. Zenseact will continue to operate as a standalone company and will lead the development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving technologies to be introduced in Volvo and Polestar cars.
Zenseact’s flagship product is OnePilot, an AI-powered software platform for autonomous driving and ADAS applications. This platform is already at work in Volvo and Polestar vehicles.
The platform provides users with three modes of operation: drive, cruise and ride. In drive mode, users drive themselves, while the platform helps them to avoid collisions with information and warnings. The system also provides automatic breaking and steering interventions when needed.
In cruise mode, OnePilot will control the vehicle, but the user is still responsible for supervising the situation. The user should be prepared to take control when needed and keep their hands on the wheel at all times. OnePilot uses a driver monitor and hands-on detection to ensure users are paying attention when in cruise mode.
Finally, in ride mode, OnePilot will take complete, unsupervised control of the car. Currently, the company can only offer this mode in specific road segments, but it hopes to expand this further.
Zenseact’s portfolio also includes an integration suite, a set of configurable components and services that help users integrate OnePilot into different vehicle platforms and cloud environments, and a development suite. The developer suite includes fleet operation and development services offered at scale through the company’s developer portal for independent innovators and developers.
Volvo completed the acquisition on December 31.
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