Announcement of strategic partnership with IEE

Ricoh Europe, 09 January 2019 – RICOH Industrial Solutions Inc. (President: Katsunori Nakata) has announced a strategic partnership with IEE S.A. (CEO: Michel Witte, hereafter “IEE”), a leading provider of automotive sensing systems headquartered in Luxembourg.  

With higher levels of automated driving, the relationship between the driver and the vehicle is facing a fundamental change with control being partially or even fully given to the vehicle. This transition will be supported by driver status information, provided by highly sophisticated in-vehicle sensing systems. Machine vision through an internal camera system will be a key enabler for this new driving experience. 

IEE, a global leader in advanced vehicle interior sensing solutions, was the first supplier to introduce a capacitive sensor for hands-on/off detection for traffic jam assistance systems in 2013. RICOH Industrial Solutions has successfully launched a serial production of the world’s smallest  ADAS  stereo camera in 2016, based on a unique experience in optical design, calibration, and real-time parallax calculation technology.

As a first achievement of the partnership, RICOH Industrial Solutions and IEE co-developed a 3D stereo camera for in-vehicle sensing. Within a downsized body of 7㎝(W)*4.4㎝(D)*2㎝(H), the stereo camera acquires in-vehicle 3D data to enable advanced safety and comfort functions. This new camera system will be presented at the Automotive World Expo held in Japan from 16-18 January 2019, followed by a worldwide demonstration to lead customers.

RICOH Industrial Solutions and IEE will continue to strengthen their joint activities by creating advanced and unique products for safer and comfort enhancing vehicle solutions.