Brussels Global Summit in Belgium discusses autonomous driving

Autonomous driving is one of the hot topics in the automotive industry today. The conversation about autonomy can include everything from technology and infrastructure to legality and testing. Sometimes, people even express their worries about self-driving cars and express their fears about life in the self-driving world. Recently, a new study emphasized that safety is still the top concern of consumers.

AutoSens organizers are in tune to this, understanding that collaboration is necessary for the successful implementation of autonomy.

Challenges & Opportunities

Active Participation

Accomplished Voices

Historic Appeal

Challenges & Opportunities

AutoSens returns this week to Autoworld in Brussels, Belgium, their second summit this year, following a successful event in May in Detroit, Michigan. The Detroit event marked the North American debut for AutoSens, with over 350 engineers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and other automotive industry experts in attendance. AutoSens is built on the visions these professionals share on vehicle perception technology, ADAS systems, and autonomous driving. Like in Detroit, AutoSens Brussels examines OEM requirements for developing these systems, and provides arenas for engagement, idea sharing, and collaboration.

“AutoSens has a strong following, backing within the industry, and is building a community of dedicated and passionate automotive engineers and technologists,” said Robert Stead, Managing Director, Sense Media. “That same community has a powerful desire to see through the roll out of autonomous vehicle technology.”

Photo: Sense Media.

Active Participation

AutoSens Brussels will see an influx of over 400 technical experts and engineers, each with a thorough understanding of connected car systems. The biggest topics in Brussels include camera developments, functional safety testing and validations, sensor fusion, image processing, imaging standards, and benchmarking. LiDAR, radar, computer vision, in-car networking, and the challenges facing each will be prime talking points as well.

Organizers are dedicated to providing the ideal environment for industry professionals to better understand what is talking place in these key areas. The strongest aspect of AutoSens is how attendees participate in the conversations, bring ideas to the table, identify problems, and even implement solutions. In Brussels there will be ample opportunity: the 4-day program includes 6 expert workshops, vehicle demonstrations, over 60 keynote-style conference sessions, 40 plus booth exhibitions, 8 industry awards, and a gala ceremony.

“Keeping engineers at the core, AutoSens in Brussels will see an international awards program and gala dinner in Europe, extended learning through an enhanced series of workshops, continuation of the IEEE P2020 working group activities, and vehicle demos to showcase the latest technology as we develop the ADAS and autonomous vehicle technology community this year,” Stead said.

Photo: Sense Media.

Accomplished Voices

The speakers at AutoSens Brussels are as diverse as they are distinguished. Collectively, the panel has experience in everything from robotics and computer vision, to automotive electronics, digital imaging, and functional safety. Each speaker was handpicked and selected based on their contributions to functional safety, driver assistance systems, autonomous cars, and their overall passion for the topics. Speakers at AutoSens Brussels include:

Philipp Hoffmann, Research, New Technologies and Innovation, Project Leader, BMW Group.

Heiko Hirschmueller, Co-Founder, Roboception.

Erich Ramschak, Sensor Product Manager, ADAS Engineering, AVL.

Markus Heimberger, System Architect; Senior Expert, Valeo.

Chris Davies, Head of Technical Superiority, Belron.

Saskia de Craen, Senior Researcher, SWOV.

Paul Jennings, Professor, University of Warwick.

Sheldon Russell, Senior Research Associate, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.

Junmuk Lee, Senior Research Engineer, Hyundai Autron.

Erik Vinkhuyzen, Senior Researcher, Nissan Research Center.

Photo: Sense Media.

Historic Appeal

AutoSens Brussels will be held in two different venues, the first of which is the Autoworld private museum. Organizers believe Autoworld’s architecture, car collection, and history make it the ideal location. During World War l, Autoworld served as the German army’s garage, while the Mundaneum, created by Belgian lawyers Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine, was installed there in 1920. The AutoSens Awards will take place on September 20th at the Atomium.

AutoSens Brussels begins on Tuesday, September 19th and runs through Thursday, September 21st. Registration is currently open and the full schedule can be found here.

“We have some really exciting things in store so the team and I are looking forward to seeing how the industry responds,” Stead said.

Car l Anthony is the executive editor of Automoblog and lives in Detroit, Michigan.