New Car Camera Technology Reads Speed Limit Signs Automatically

Mobileye has introduced what is believed to be first Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) system that relies exclusively on camera vision.

The technology has the capability of reading the speed limit on traffic signs and is being introduced following extensive testing and certification in Europe. It is likely to arrive on production cars as early as this year.

According to the Jerusalem-based company, the camera-only system can ensure global automakers meet new European Union (EU) General Safety Regulation (GSR) standards, which require automatic sensing of speed limits in all new vehicles without the need to rely on third-party map and GPS data.

The GSR rules are set to kick in from July 2024.

Current alternatives rely on a combination of cameras and low-resolution maps to meet EU standards, but the complexity of the technology and the effort to integrate it means higher costs, while performance is claimed to be less reliable.

The new software, designed for Mobileye’s EyeQ platform, has been certified for use in all 27 EU countries as well as Israel, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. And it allows automakers whose vehicles already integrate EyeQ4 and EyeQ6 chips to meet the new standards merely by updating EyeQ’s existing software, without new hardware requirements.

The tech also offers a number of upgrades on previous iterations of ISA. These include recognition of whether a sign is relevant to a specific lane, identification of sign signatures including those introduced after the vehicle was produced, the ability to read text on signs that indicate city entrances and the ability to identify and classify roads, even when there are no road signs.

Gaby Hayon, executive vice president of research and development at Mobileye, said: “This is a major accomplishment for Mobileye, because we’ve proven to the industry not only that achieving GSR-compatible vision-only ISA is possible, but also that it performs better than traditional map-based solutions.

“Mobileye’s 400-petabyte database of driving footage, gathered from around the world, enables us to rapidly meet the growing requirements of automotive safety regulators with new software designed for our existing driver-assist platforms.

“After successfully surpassing GSR ISA standards during stringent testing, we look forward to collaborating with automakers to implement this lifesaving technology in Europe and beyond.”

Mobile says a major global auto group will be first to use the technology on two different brands with models going on sale later this year, with three other automakers set to follow in 2024.

Six independent labs across five different European countries have tested and verified the technology, which has been developed over the past two years.