Intel buys Italy’s Yogitech to make IoT and driverless vehicles safer

6 Apr 2016

Intel has acquired Italian internet of things company Yogitech in a move to improve functional safety in IoT devices and autonomous vehicles

Autonomous vehicles are to be made safer after it emerged Intel has acquired an internet of things player from Italy called Yogitech, an expert in semiconductor functional safety.

Based in Pisa and founded in 2000, Yogitech specialises in the design, prototyping and usage assistance of hardware intellectual properties, software and software tools for functional safety.

Intel estimates that 30pc of the internet of things (IoT) market segment will require functional safety by 2020.

“Today, functional safety (including Advanced Driver Assistance Systems or ADAS) is used to enhance the safety of transportation and factory systems,” explained Ken Caviasca, vice-president and general manager of platform engineering and development in the IoT group at Intel.

“One of the fastest-growing segments in automotive electronics, ADAS makes features like assisted parking possible and paves the way for fully autonomous vehicles in the not-so-distant future.

Taking the safety of IoT and driverless cars to the next level

“As IT systems increasingly merge with operational systems in buildings, factories, vehicles (and more), functional safety is becoming important for a wide range of IoT market opportunities.”

Caviasca said that the acquisition of Yogitech will take Intel’s autonomous system efforts to the next level.

‘We see the combination of high performance and functional safety as a natural evolution of Intel’s IoT platform and strategy’
– KEN CAVIASCA, INTEL

“The talented Yogitech team, based in Italy, will soon join Intel’s internet of things group,” said Caviasca. “This acquisition furthers our efforts to win in ADAS, robotics and autonomous machines for market segments like automotive, industrial and other IoT systems that require functional safety and high performance.”

Caviasca said that, for years, Intel has been providing high-performance IoT systems that allow people and businesses to make better-informed decisions. “The industry is now moving from automating data to inform better decisions, to automating actions informed by real-time data.

“You can see this evolution in the autonomous vehicle prototypes that nearly all have Intel inside. Functional safety is a requirement for these and other IoT customers. We see the combination of high performance and functional safety as a natural evolution of Intel’s IoT platform and strategy.”

 Pisa GP Nuvolari vintage car race image via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com