Q&A: Elpidoforos Arapantonis, Volvo Cars
"Let’s not forget safety..."
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Less than half of the year is over, and already 2020 will go down as one of the strangest in most people’s lives. Lockdown measures have come to define daily life, and normality as we know it is being reshaped.
Automotive IQ is changing too, bringing increased numbers of interactive, free resources to our 75,000 members, including holding the introduction of bespoke online events.
Autonomous Vehicles Online is the first, taking place on May 26-27. The event identifies and highlights the future trends that will shape the self-driving car industry, with our keynote speaker on day one, Elpidoforos Arapantonis, solution architect in active safety at Volvo Cars, setting out the current state of the industry – the new normal – and giving an overview of autonomy as it stands.
Our specially invited sponsors will delve into key issues in the field of sensors and software, and we will look at trends in automated delivery vehicles.
Day Two changes tack, looking into some of the rules and regulations that govern the industry as a whole. We will get an update on SOTIF, look at data protection, legal issues, and then finish on how the commercial industry is adapting to the challenge of autonomy.
Meet our opening speaker
The event will begin with a wide-ranging keynote from Elpidoforos Arapantonis (right). He is based at the headquarters of Volvo Car Corporation in Gothenburg, Sweden.
He has an academic background in electronics, distributed systems and information security. He is currently working on projects concerning both Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), and Autonomous Driving (AD). Elpidoforos’ focus is on cybersecurity from active safety point of view.
In advance of his presentation – which aims to answer What are the key trends in autonomy in 2020? – we caught up with Elpidoforos to pose him a couple of questions:
Automotive IQ What are the global trends to be aware of in the automotive industry right now?
Elpidoforos Arapantonis Due to its global nature, the industry is in the spotlight right around the world for many different reasons. However, we see a series of trends emerging. Some examples are Electrification, Connectivity, Mobility, and Sustainability. And let’s not forget Safety, which is at the core of everything we do at Volvo Cars.
AIQ What are the biggest challenges in autonomous driving right now?
EA Unfortunately, there is no straightforward answer to this question. Autonomous driving (AD) is an immense challenge, and requires development in a series of different areas, which need to fuse together.
Technical aspects such as sensor technology and machine learning algorithms will need to merge with operational design environment and user or driver perception aspects. These are individual topics with a broad scope, but only represent a small example of the different fields, which we need to consider during our journey towards AD.
AIQ Without anyone to buy or lease a self-driving car, the technology cannot progress. How do you introduce autonomy in a way that consumers will accept?
EA I really enjoy the power of video, thus I would like to invite you to watch this clip. I believe it gives a really nice perspective, when it comes to autonomous driving, based around a concept vehicle we showed last year, the Volvo 360c Concept:
To learn more about the full line-up of speakers, the confirmed agenda, and to register for the event, visit the dedicated Autonomous Vehicles Online site.
