KVH’s Fiber Optic Gyros Guide Self-driving Vehicles Operated by May Mobility
Thu March 7, 2019 12:57 PM
MIDDLETOWN, R.I., March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KVH Industries, Inc. ( KVHI), ( Nasdaq: KVHI), a provider of high-performance fiber optic gyros (FOGs) and inertial measurement units (IMUs) for autonomous applications, announced today that the KVH 1725 IMU has been integrated into the self-driving vehicles developed by May Mobility and already traveling on public roads.
The development team at May Mobility chose KVH’s 1725 IMU to enhance the performance of the sensor data used in the vehicles’ localization algorithm. “Other solutions were considered, but our prior experience with the output data quality of the KVH product informed our choice and helped us rapidly bring a robust solution to the market,” says Steve Vozar, May Mobility’s chief technology officer.
May Mobility was the first company to successfully deploy self-driving vehicles to replace existing transportation solutions on city streets when it launched a self-driving fleet in Detroit in June 2018. The company launched a second program in Columbus, Ohio, in December 2018, and has announced plans to launch programs in Providence, Rhode Island, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2019. In these programs, the May Mobility self-driving vehicles travel on public streets, carrying passengers on short routes in urban environments; the vehicles include KVH’s 1725 IMU.
KVH’s line of FOG-based IMUs is designed to deliver the performance criteria essential for precise navigation and safe operation of autonomous vehicles, including scale factor, angle random walk, and bias instability. Containing three high-performance gyros and three low-noise accelerometers, the KVH IMUs are ideal for a wide range of navigation and stabilization applications where precision, affordability, and high bandwidth are critical.
“Having the May Mobility team integrate our patented FOG technology in their self-driving vehicles reinforces the importance of providing the precision required for safe autonomous vehicle solutions,” says Martin Kits van Heyningen, KVH chief executive officer. “We are thrilled to be part of this innovative program, which is leading the way in bringing the benefits of self-driving vehicles to the public.”
With KVH FOGs and FOG-based IMUs currently on more than 20 autonomous vehicle platforms, KVH is a leading innovator for assured navigation and autonomous accuracy using high-performance sensors and integrated inertial systems. KVH’s widely-fielded TACNAV® systems are currently in use by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps as well as many allied militaries around the world. KVH’s FOGs and FOG-based IMUs are in use today in a wide variety of applications ranging from optical, antenna, and sensor stabilization systems to mobile mapping solutions and unmanned platforms.
Note to Editors: For more information about the KVH 1725 IMU, please visit the company’s website for unmanned solutions, kvh.com/unmanned. High-resolution images of KVH products are available at the KVH Press Room Image Library, kvh.com/Press-Room/Image-Library.
About May Mobility
May Mobility, maymobility.com, solves today’s transportation needs with self-driving vehicles. The company brings communities closer together today, with fleets of self-driving shuttles that make short distance travel safe, personal, and effortless. From business districts to educational campuses to residential areas, May Mobility provides a fully managed mobility service that helps people engage more fully in the places where they live and work, while helping make the streets safer and supporting healthier local economies. May Mobility’s founders bring unparalleled expertise in academia, innovation, and the auto industry, counting University of Michigan’s APRIL lab, MIT, the DARPA Urban Challenge, Ford ( F), GM, GM Ventures, and Toyota ( TM) among recent experience. Their goal is to realize a world where self-driving mobility systems will reduce the need for individual car ownership, encourage better land use and foster more vibrant, livable communities. The company’s investors include BMW i Ventures, Toyota AI Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners, Maven Ventures, SV Angel, Tandem Ventures, Trucks Ventures, and YCombinator. |
