Nearly two years ago, we spoke with the chief executive officer of Imagry, Eran Ofir, about the Israeli company’s “mapless” self-driving technology and its planned on-road tests with Otokar. At the UITP global summit, held in the German city of Hamburg between 15-18 June, Truck & Bus Builder spoke with Suhail Habib, an engineer at the company, to get an update on the company’s activities.

Imagry’s self-driving technology employs vision-based perception, using 11 cameras installed around the bus. This is combined with real-time mapping capabilities which negate the need for pre-downloaded HD maps; the software learns its environment as the vehicle navigates and receives visual information from the cameras.

Why do tech startups tend to concentrate in certain countries and regions? Or, to put it another way, why are some places more favourable to the growth of new companies than others? These are questions that bear greater relevance to the commercial vehicle industry today, as manufacturers search for partners to work with on the digital technologies which will make our trucks and buses smarter and more connected.

The first driver-supervised road tests are taking place in Israel with an ‘eCentro’ midibus supplied by Otokar.