German tiremaker and auto supplier Continental Ag has become entrenched in the world of autonomous driving.

The company is developing the 48-volt electrical system powering Audi’s latest A8 sedan, exploring driverless robo-taxi concepts and piloting an Intelligent Intersection software in Columbus, Ohio, later this year, according to Forbes.

More moves that clearly show Conti’s attraction to driverless technology include its award-winning 3-D Touch Surface Display, which won the top innovation honor at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. The company also is in the “early stages of analyzing how our organization can become even more flexible in response to the fast-changing environment in the automotive industry,” the tiremaker told Tire Review earlier this month.

With a clear focus on autonomy, Continental’s Frank Jourdan, an executive board member for the chassis and safety division, sat down with Forbes and described the company’s mission ahead.

Here are some highlights:

• Jourdan on the lidar autonomous sensor: “The sensor that sits on top of the car and spins is susceptible to breakdowns and won’t be the direction Continental goes,” he said.  “Several non-scanning lasers will replace it in the future, and Conti is working with California-based Advanced Scientific Concepts, which it recently acquired, to further explore this technology.”
• Jourdan on Autonomy and Safety: “There cannot be any ‘oops’… We have to learn from [intelligence systems]: deep learning and machine learning and God knows what. And [those systems] have to learn from us about all these safety requirements.”

For the full interview, click here.