Autonomous vehicle solutions developer EasyMile has signed a three-year agreement to equip EZ10 autonomous vehicles with Velodyne Lidar sensors.

As agreed, EasyMile’s EZ10 shuttle fleet will feature Velodyne Lidar sensors that will help the autonomous vehicles to safely navigate on roads.

Velodyne’s sensors utilise high-resolution 3D perception with a broad vertical field of view to detect objects. The technology is capable of operating in multiple light conditions.

EasyMile product marketing director Olivier Pairot said: “For precise navigation in real time, the EZ10s use our algorithm that fuses data from a variety of perception sensors, including lidar and camera, and localisation sensors, including GPS, INS and odometry.

Velodyne lidars detect objects, vehicles, animals and people that might pose a collision threat, feeding that information to the vehicle’s control software.

“By utilising Velodyne sensors, we are able to best gather information on every part of our environment, both close to the vehicle and at longer ranges.”

The EZ10 shuttle is an electric and driverless vehicle that was launched in April 2015. In more than 200 deployments, the vehicle has completed driving more than 600,000km in autonomous mode.

The vehicle is capable of transporting up to 15 passengers. According to the company, EZ10, as a passenger shuttle, has been deployed on public and private roads in more than 30 countries around the world.

Velodyne Lidar Europe executive director Erich Smidt said: “The EasyMile EZ10 provides a shared, inclusive driverless shuttle solution that improves public transport by connecting hubs and in many cases, delivers a transport service where there otherwise wasn’t one available.

“These shuttles show how Velodyne Lidar sensors provide real-time perception data that enables safe and reliable operation for autonomous vehicles across business parks, public transport connections, university campuses and more.”

In March, Velodyne Lidar entered a multi-year sales agreement with NAVYA to power the latter’s autonomous shuttles with its sensors.