Tactile Mobility launches first-of-its-kind run-over virtual sensor

Tactile data and virtual sensing technology company Tactile Mobility announced today the launch of a claimed first-of-its-kind virtual sensor solution that enables vehicles the ability to identify in real-time an initial run-over of an object and prevent a full run-over.

The software-only solution uses “sense of touch” technology to detect a variety of objects on the road of different heights, sizes, shapes, and materials including both organic and “hard” such as a human body, road debris, and other objects. The virtual sensor then prevents the vehicle from running over the object.

The virtual sensor will be added on top of the Tactile Processor Platform, which includes the company’s suite of virtual sensors such as grip estimation, tire health, surface sensing, and vehicle health.

According to the U.S. NHTSA, hundreds of children are killed and thousands are injured every year in nontraffic crashes in parking lots, driveways, and private roadways.

Tactile Mobility says that run-over virtual sensors in vehicles can help reduce the human death toll by sending signals to these vehicles that alert the car and driver at distinct stages of the runover. The virtual sensor can enable another critical safety function, allowing vehicles to sense the road, identify the type of material under tires, and alert an initial run-over, preventing vehicles from fully running over objects that could lead to a fatal incident.

“For the first time, the automotive industry will have access to an affordable in-vehicle software solution that enables vehicles to identify what they might drive over and avoid potentially fatal accidents—a critical step in the development of autonomous vehicles,” said Shahar Bin-Nun, CEO of Tactile Mobility. “We are already working with well-known OEMs to bring the technology to the mass market and look forward to expanding our collaboration to embed this safety sensor in autonomous vehicles of all levels to ensure road and vehicle safety for everyone.”

Three in four Americans are afraid to ride in fully self-driving vehicles, according to AAA. For AVs (autonomous vehicles) to be trusted by the mainstream, they must be far safer than human-controlled vehicles, according to Tactile Mobility. To achieve this, the company says that they must respond to vehicle-road dynamics just as—or better than—human drivers do; they must be able to not only “see” the road that lies ahead, but also “feel” the road friction, roughness, curves, grades, distresses, and objects in the roads under their tires. Its runover sensors enable vehicles to sense the road and react to obstacles, hazards, and vulnerable objects, significantly mitigating the damage.

Co-founded in 2012 by Boaz Mizrachi, CTO; Yossi Shiri, VP, Business Development; and Alex Ackerman and headquartered in Haifa, Israel, Tactile Mobility is developing software-based tactile sensing and data solutions are comprised of an in-vehicle module residing on one of the vehicle’s computers and the cloud-based system. The company is focused on leveraging existing sensors and artificial intelligence to equip vehicles with a missing sense of “touch.”

The company’s software collects first-order data gathered from vehicles’ built-in non-visual sensors—including wheel speed, wheel angle, RPM, paddles position, gear position—and then analyzes the information to yield actionable insights in real-time. It says the data insights are beneficial across many sectors due to their availability, accuracy, and quality—from road planning and management to tracking tire conditions and wear, and even for insurance purposes.

Beginning in 2021, BMW Group vehicles will start embedding Tactile Mobility’s software into the group’s next-generation vehicles on a global scale. The collaboration will mark one of the first commercial integrations by an OEM of tactile sensing technology and data, which will be used to enhance driving performance and detection of road conditions.