As part of the Recovery Plan, the LNE has secured government funding of 390,000 euros for the creation of the world's first generic platform dedicated to the evaluation of artificial intelligence.
This funding is part of the "support for industrial investment in the territories" programme, established in connection with the Ile-de-France region. Scheduled for the first half of 2022, the Leia platform (artificial intelligence evaluation laboratory) will represent a total investment of 785,000 euros.
The Government-announced Recovery Plan currently provides 2.7 billion euros in support for the development of key markets, including artificial intelligence. But the development of this market can only be done if artificial intelligence systems are rigorously qualified.
That's why the LNE has been working for several years to develop methods to evaluate the performance and safety of agricultural and industrial robots, autonomous vehicles, voice recognition systems and images, and many others. Thanks today to the support of France Relance, a new step can be taken in the evaluation of artificial intelligence by equipping France, through its National Laboratory of Metrology and Testing, with a platform unique in the world: Leia.
Artificial Intelligence Evaluation Laboratory: Leia
Housed in a room 6 m in diameter and 3 m high, the Leia platform will consist of a 360-degree video projection system, allowing to reconstruct an "artificial nature" and to immerse the systems to be characterized (personal aid robots, intelligent cameras, civil and military intervention robots, etc.) in a simulated dynamic reality.
It will then be possible to subject the system (robot, camera, etc.) to a multitude of test scenarios and evaluate its reactions in a controlled environment.
Unprecedented simulation software
A central and essential element of the Leia platform, a simulation software will generate dynamic and realistic test scenarios offering a multitude of environments (inside an apartment, road, etc.) and atmospheres (weather and sound conditions, brightness, etc.). The virtual world reconstructed by this software will include complex scenes, such as people moving around an apartment or traffic using realistic images in very high definition. The simulator will be able to take into account in real time in the projected scene the movement data acquired through the instrumentation of the systems being characterized (movement of wheels and tracks, mecatronic legs, etc.).
Currently, no simulation software available on the market is as complete. It will be built on the basis of a product already proven for the development of autonomous mobility systems but additional modules will then be developed to expand the field of environments.
Support for the revival and competitiveness of the industry The creation of this platform is fully in line with the LNE's mission to support industry, as several collaborations with the regional and national ecosystem (SMEs, large industrial groups, business clusters, academics) are already launched to promote the "Made in France" AI.
By working for a strong and influential metrology in the service of French industrial independence, the LNE is completely in line with the ambition of France Relance since the key markets targeted by this plan perfectly cross the current priorities of development of the LNE: health, energy transition, future technologies and of course digital with artificial intelligence
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