MINES ParisTech, France’s leading academic institution by volume of contractual research, today announces the creation of an international automotive and aerospace research chair in partnership with manufacturers Valeo, PSA Peugeot Citroën and Safran. Baptized “Automated Vehicles- Drive for You”, the chair will unite researchers from MINES ParisTech’s Robotics Centre with teams from international partner institutions — Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, the University of California, Berkeley in the United States and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland.
Supported by the MINES ParisTech Foundation, with the manufacturers contributing €3.7 million in funds, the chair will work for five years on the topic of automated driving to:
– Expand knowledge of self-driving vehicles.
– Develop intelligent onboard systems.
– Get self-driving vehicles on the road in Asia, Europe and the United States.
“The automated driving chair is a logical extension of the work we have been doing for more than 20 years in collaboration with key industry players on such topics as smart vehicles, control, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, mobile robotics and logistics,” said Arnaud de La Fortelle, Director of MINES ParisTech’s Center for Robotics and holder of the new chair.
“The creation of this chair demonstrates the confidence our industrial and academic partners have in us and sends a strong signal worldwide about the excellent research carried out in the automotive sector by MINES ParisTech and our Robotics Centre,” commented Romain Soubeyran, head of MINES ParisTech.
“The new chair is perfectly aligned with Valeo’s innovation strategy because intuitive driving is one of our key focuses. This alliance between leading manufacturers and world-class academic institutions will speed up the development of connected, autonomous driving solutions,” said Jacques Aschenbroich, Valeo’s Chief Executive Officer.
“This partnership between PSA Peugeot Citroen, MINES ParisTech, Valeo and Safran will provide exceptional conditions for research to grow up knowledge of automated driving on a global level. Supporting this chair is a way for PSA Peugeot Citroën to reaffirm its ambition to develop autonomous vehicles in line with the practices in the future,” said Gilles Le Borgne, Director of Research and Development PSA Peugeot Citroën.
“Safran believes in the cross-fertilization opportunities of aerospace and automotive technologies. Automated systems of land vehicles of the future and the flight of unmanned aircraft in civilian areas share common issues and will benefit from an accelerated development with the work of this chair,” said Jean-Paul Herteman, Chairman & CEO of Safran.
