Bringing autonomous-driving vehicles to market faster

This combination delivers a comprehensive semiconductor solution that covers peripheral recognition, driving judgements, and body control. 

As the leading global supplier of automotive processors (MCUs and SoCs, Note), Renesas offers highly-advanced technologies for use in increasingly critical areas for autonomous driving, such as security technology to protect against cyberattacks and functional safety technology to predict system failures.

Production-ready autonomous-driving vehicles will require these capabilities as well as the expertise to match these technologies to actual use cases. Renesas has been committed to providing the perfect balance between advanced technologies and traditional automotive requirements, including performance and power consumption, optimal installation of electronic systems and considerations to the space available, and to implementing measures to protect against heat and environmental conditions.

Recognising the depth of advanced automotive development technology and expertise that Renesas has demonstrated over the years, Toyota selected Renesas as the key semiconductor supplier for its “Highway Teammate”, an autonomous-driving prototype car designed to merge, pass, change lanes, and perform other actions during highway driving, under supervision. Production vehicles are planned for sale by 2020.

The R-Car SoC has been selected for Denso’s engine control unit (ECU), which will be used for Toyota’s upcoming autonomous-driving vehicles. The R-Car SoC will function as the electronic brain for the autonomous-driving system, providing highly accurate intelligence on the vehicle’s position within its environment and making real-time decisions on vehicle control and active safety maneuvers based on sensor data.

The RH850 was also selected to control driving, steering, and braking functions based on the judgements made by the R-Car SoC. The combination provides an excellent balance between performance and power consumption, and serves as a comprehensive autonomous-driving solution with high reliability, which had a decisive influence on the adoption by Toyota and Denso.

“To achieve a society where mobility means safety, efficiency and freedom, Toyota is constantly seeking out the latest technology and selecting systems incorporating the very best devices and materials,” said Ken Koibuchi, Executive General Manager at Toyota Motor Corporation.

“We are partnering with Denso and Renesas, who bring superior technology and expertise to this project, with the aim to accelerate the development of autonomous-driving vehicles and encourage early adoption.”

“We are collaborating with Renesas to develop an ECU, the so-called electronic brain, for use in Toyota’s autonomous-driving vehicle,” said Hajime Kumabe, Executive Director at Denso Corporation.

“We will maximise our sophisticated system design and software development capabilities by leveraging Renesas’ high-performance semiconductor devices to realise a highly reliable ECU system for autonomous-driving vehicles.”

“We are delighted that Toyota and Denso have selected Renesas’ high-performance automotive semiconductor devices for use in the autonomous-driving vehicle they are developing for commercial release,” said Ryuji Omura, Executive Vice President at Renesas Electronics Corporation.

“Renesas introduced the Renesas autonomy™ Platform earlier this year as an open, innovative, and trusted platform for the autonomous driving era, to accelerate the development of self-driving vehicles for consumer adoption.”

Renesas is committed to strengthening its Renesas autonomy solutions for autonomous-driving vehicles and continues to advance technological developments that enable a safe and reliable driving experience. Renesas plans to contribute to making ADAS and autonomous-driving systems available for all types of vehicles, ranging from entry- to high-level models.