Valeo has entered into strategic cooperation with Apollo, the open autonomous driving platform created by Baidu, a leading Chinese language internet search provider.

Valeo will contribute its expertise in sensors, an area where it currently ranks as a world leader, with a comprehensive range of sensors, comprising cameras, radars, ultrasonic sensors and the Valeo SCALA laser scanner.

Using this expertise, Valeo says it has already achieved numerous “world firsts” in the field of autonomous vehicles, including 24 hours on the Paris beltway, as well as road trips around Europe and the United States.

Valeo also will contribute its skills in sensor cleaning systems, which are key to optimal sensor functioning, including connectivity between autonomous vehicles, and control and optimization of air quality in the vehicle interior.

Valeo will benefit from the full range of software, hardware and data tools (operating systems, high-precision positioning and HD mapping services, simulation engines, cloud, algorithms, etc.) provided by Apollo to its ecosystem partners through its open, secure platform.

Launched in April 2017, Apollo aims to accelerate the development, testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles through a collaborative approach. Valeo says this partnership, which is in line with its open innovation approach, demonstrates the company’s ambitious vision for the development of autonomous vehicles.