Top speakers already confirmed at CESA 2012

The congress will welcome top executives from OEMs and suppliers. At this point, CESA 2012 is delighted to announce the presence of :
Christophe PERILLAT, chief operating officer at Valeo on automotive electronics in general
Marc DUVAL-DESTIN, R&D Director at PSA on new mobility (picture)
Beatrice FOUCHER-SYBORD from Renault on Electric Mobility
Liam BRESLIN for the European Commission
Wolfgang RUNGE, ex-CEO of ZF and chairman of Baden-Baden conference on automotive electronics
Pierre GATTAZ, CEO of Radial and President of the French federation for electronics industry (FIEEC) Joachim MATTHES from Valeo on Driver Assistance
Heinz PFANNSCHMIDT, ex CEO of Honsel and ex-VP of Visteon as representative for Roland Berger on electric mobility in Germany
Laurent MALIER, CEO of CEA-LETI on new technologies in power electronics
Hans-Georg FRISCHKORN, ESG and ex-VP Electronics at GM and BMW on consequences from mobility needs on technical solutions
Other speakers from BMW, Nissan, Continental, CLEPA, BIPE, Ademe and Orange are also announced. CESA 2012 is a very promising edition...

Deadline is May 29 th for call for papers

CESA 2012 reminds that the submission for abstracts is opened until May 29th.
At this point, the congress has already confirmation of more than 60 participants for key-notes and round table discussions including representatives from the automotive industry and adjacent industries such as electronics in general, railway, communication, city representatives and market research organizations from Europe, France, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands.
This year, the top level roundtable discussion format will be enhanced by more in depth sessions, detailed presentations and discussions of technical papers. CESA will be held on December 4th and 5th in Paris with the support of the PFA and Automotive Clusters. It's the most important automotive electronics conference in France.

Link : http://www.sia.fr/evenement_detail_cesa_2nd_edition_important_information_1128.htm

PFA : a task force for the french automotive industry

In french, PFA stands for Plateforme de la Filière Automobile (Automotive Industry Platform). This organisation has been created in 2009, in order to facilitate the relationship between OEMs and suppliers and to prepare the migration towards a more efficient industry.

Headed by former Michelin chairman, Michel Rollier, the PFA has several working groups.

In a recent report, transmitted to public authorities, the organisation has listed 5 top priorities :
- To move towards a mobility focused industry with a new R&D tool (which is VeDeCom Institute, a place dedicated to software development, energy management, automated driving)
- To prepare the factory of the future, more flexible in order to meet requirements for a much more segmented demand
- To better share the "high tech best cost" vision, in order to improve France's competitiveness with Techno Parcs and clusters
- To have clear priority roadmaps for R&D with a better coordination at the national level
- To reshape the R&D eco system with a simplified access and an efficient financing

Link (in french) : http://www.fiev.fr/mediatek_store/pdf/csf_groupe_r_rapport_final2_27_02_2012.pdf
PFA website : https://www.pfa-auto.fr/

PSA Peugeot Citroën leader of e-Call in Europe

French OEM has sold over 1 million cars equiped with an e-Call system, under the brands Citroën (e-Touch) and Peugeot (Peugeot Connect). Since 2003, 5000 persons have been rescued in 10 countries in Europe.

In case of accident, a SMS is sent (either by the driver by pressing the SOS button, ou automatically when the airbag is activated), with the vehicle location and its ID to a dedicated platform*. Then, an operator can call the driver in his native language to ask him questions about the situation. If there is no response, the platform will then warn the rescue services with all the relevant data. The PSA system can save precious minutes, and then lives.

A location based assistance service is also available, in case of breakdown.

In 2010, PSA introduced a new on board device. This box separates e-Call services from other telematics functions, such as hands free communications.

Anticipating 2015 european e-Call, the PSA system is a no fee subscription, available for the whole vehicle lifecycle. The french OEM has received a Euro NCAP Advanced award for this innovation.

*IMA, which is a structure owned by insurance companies

Safeplatoon : driverless cars running in France in 2013

CESA 2012 partner, the cluster Véhicule du Futur backs an innovative project called Safeplatoon.
Involving the university of technology of Belfort-Montbéliard, this project aims to develop strong algorithms in order to enable driverless cars to run in real life traffic. Automated vehicles could then drive in the streets and park by themselves. The technology could be used by the automotive industry, and also for military and agriculture applications.
3D simulation will be used, thanks to Pro-Sivic platform from Paris based company Civitec, before practical tests.
Started in 2011, Safeplatoon is a 36 months project. All partners, such as LASMEA and Ligier, have already developed automated vehicles.
A showcase is scheduled in 2013 in the streets of Belfort, in the eastern part of France.

Link : http://www.vehiculedufutur.com/EN/

Breaking news: Carroll Shelby passes away at 89

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of racing and sports car legend Carroll Shelby who passed away today in Dallas Texas at the age of 89. Shelby, a racing legend in his own time. A winner of the 24 hours of LeMans. He was father of the legendary Cobra and the line of Mustangs that carried his name. Details of his death have not been released at this time, but Shelby has been hospitalized recently.

Renault adopts ADAS technologies from Valeo

Valeo is supplying Renault with two driving assistance systems. The BeamAtic lighting automation and LaneVue lane departure warning applications will equip the new mass-market Scenic, Grand Scenic, Mégane, Mégane coupé and Mégane estate facelift vehicles.

These applications are embedded in the Valeo multifunctional camera, located between the windshield and the rearview mirror.

The BeamAtic lighting automation system takes over the lighting commands to optimize the use of high beam. It switches back to low beam as soon as an oncoming or leading car is detected by the embedded camera. The system alleviates the stress of constantly switching the headlamps on and off, thus improving nighttime driving comfort and safety.

The LaneVue detection system alerts the driver if the vehicle drifts into the adjacent lane. The front camera detects the lane markings on the road, and compares them with the vehicle's trajectory. If the vehicle drifts into the adjacent lane without having activated the turn indicator, LaneVue™ immediately alerts the driver through sound and visual signals. This application may anticipate critical situations, e.g. in the event of driver drowsiness or lack of attention.

With these two applications, which combine innovative vision technologies and software developments, Valeo is making leading-edge driving assistance functions available to the widest possible markets.