Easyrain, a startup company based in Rivoli, Italy, is developing AIS, the first active system to prevent vehicle aquaplaning. AIS applies a jet of high-pressure water in front of the front wheels, breaking the layer of water that causes aquaplaning and helps the driver maintain control of the car. The latest development at Easyrain as it works towards to industrialisation of the system is that Emanuele Pirro, an Italian racing driver with over 40 years of career experience, including being five-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and former brand ambassador of Audi and Lamborghini, has joined the company as its product and business developer.
Pirro will contribute to the technical development of Easyrain systems, working with CTO Mauro Pierallini (former EMEA VP of product development at FCA), president Heinrich Gerhard Schüring (former CEO of Magneti Marelli Electronics) and board member Eugenio Razelli (former CEO of Magneti Marelli).
The company has three main areas in its product ecosystem for road safety. The first area is dedicated to the AIS hardware, which has had further development input from Bosch and Italdesign. The technology is due to debut this month on a production vehicle, an as-yet unspecified SUV.
The second development area is dedicated to software. The EDP platform (Easyrain Digital Platform) hosts the virtual sensors based on the standard vehicle’s network data combined with Easyrain’s proprietary algorithm. The first sensor is the DAI (Digital Aquaplaning Information) sensor, which recognises dangerous wet road situations and aquaplaning conditions and sends warnings to the vehicle system. Carmakers can use these warnings to introduce new vehicle safety functionalities, including automatic adjustment for adaptive cruise control in the event of dangerous wet road or aquaplaning conditions.
The third area is dedicated to the cloud. ERC (Easyrain Cloud) expands and enhances the capabilities of AIS hardware system and EDP software, and provides extended analyses and new services for car manufacturers.
“I met Giovanni Blandina [the company’s founder]and Easyrain in 2019 and I immediately believed in the idea and in the project,” commented Emanuele Pirro. “We’ve stayed in touch and today the conditions have finally matured to start an effective collaboration.
Aquaplaning is a subtle and underestimated threat to the motorists. Easyrain can greatly contribute to increase road safety and I am proud to be part of it.”
“It is a great pleasure for me to welcome Emanuele to the team,” added Giovanni Blandina. “His experience and expertise represent an extraordinary growth opportunity for Easyrain as it is accelerating towards the industrialisation of AIS, EDP and ERC systems.”
