Tekcapital (TEK) , an intellectual property investment group, updated markets on its wholly-owned portfolio company Guident, which is developing a remote monitoring and control system to improve the safety of autonomous vehicles, as well as a regenerative shock absorber system to improve EV efficiency.
Remote Monitoring and Control System (RMCC)
Guident is upgrading its Remote Monitor and Control Centre (RMCC) for autonomous vehicles with an enhanced user interface, fault tolerance upgrades, and a new steering wheel integration. The company has scheduled a customer acceptance test for early autumn 2023 with its first major customer Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA), the largest transportation authority in the US, to be followed by the inaugural deployment of RMCC at the Boca Raton Innovation Campus (BRiC).
Guident's HQ will then move to BRiC where the company will deploy its RMCC control center. Guident's RMCC features a cloud-based software solution that links human operators to autonomous vehicle (AV) fleets. The operators continuously monitor their assigned AV fleets in case they need to intervene in certain edge cases.
Earlier in June 2023, Guident received an major US patent related to its proprietary technology for RMCC, significantly expanding the company's patented IP.
Space Florida Grant Award
Guident and Novelsat partnered earlier in the year to develop an always-on RMCC system. Guident was awarded funding for the project under the Florida-Israel Innovation Partnership program by Space Florida to develop a safer RMCC for monitoring, management, and backup control of autonomous vehicles with satellite communications.
The addition of satellite connectivity to Guident's RMCC will provide redundant, continuous monitoring, filling in gaps in terrestrial mobile coverage. This should give the company a competitive advantage over remote systems that rely on terrestrial coverage only.
Regenerative Shock Absorber (RSA)
Guident also continued to develop its Regenerative Shock Absorber (RSA) technology that converts more of an EV's motion into electrical energy, extending range. Regenerative braking is a well-known technology, however Guident's system harnesses energy from shock absorbers. The technology can make all types of vehicles more sustainable, including ICEs, hybrid, and EVs. It increases the energy harvesting efficiency by c. 70% over existing energy-harvesting shock absorbers, and can deliver extra EV range of 6-12 miles per charge.
Recently, Guident secured a paid proof of concept agreement for RSA with a tier-1 tire manufacturer. The collaboration has resulted in successful tests and reports for the system that will be used in further development.
View from Vox
Tekcapital's update nicely summarised Guident's recent accomplishments, detailing progress that has yielded a steady increase in Guident's valuation since TEK's initial investment in H1 2018. Guident's sales pipeline has experienced significant growth in the past year via direct and indirect sales, opening many opportunities for further expansion.
The company is on the forefront of autonomous driving and EV technology with its remote control architecture and regenerative shock absorber systems. Guident signed on its first RMCC customer, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, in 2022, and its second customer Boca Raton Innovation Campus is awaiting initial deployment. The partnership with Novelsat should give Guident a significant competitive advantage over similar systems that rely on terrestrial mobile connectivity only.
Guident has also signed a letter of intent with Auve Tech, an Estonian developer of autonomous transportation systems, to deploy turn-key solutions using its teleoperation software, to be included with Auve Tech's level-4 autonomous vehicles in the US, Europe, and Asia.
Automated supervision and safety driver roles will be critical for decades for all levels of vehicle automation before reaching full autonomy SAE level 5. RMCC-type technology is quickly becoming a legal requirement in multiple US states and other countries. All types of vehicles can benefit from the technology, including passenger road vehicles, agricultural equipment, mining equipment, and unmanned military vehicles.
According to Triton Market Research, "the last mile AV autonomous vehicle delivery market is expected to reach $41.7 billion by 2028 with a CAGR of 19%". Contactless delivery has been in high demand since the Covid-19 pandemic, which Guident believes will accelerate the rollout of land-based delivery drones where its Remote Monitor and Control Center system can shine.
RSA is also a promising technology based on electromagnetic regenerative shock absorbers with high energy densities that can recover a vehicle's vibration energy, otherwise lost due to road irregularities, vehicle accelerations, and braking. Interest is already building with a major tire manufacturer conducting tests.
Currently, we see Tekcapital as undervalued, with NAV per share at US$0.38 (31p) at the end of FY22 and current share price at 10p. The overall trend for Tekcapital's portfolio is up, with steady increases in valuation each year since initial investment in 2018. From a technical standpoint, some consolidation was expected at this point, and the wide discount to NAV offers an attractive entry point.
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