The Software-Defined Control Platform
L1 lateral assistance for professional vehicles and supervised missions for mobile machines. Qualified hardware, proprietary software, physical references and safety by design.
Software-first strategy
YAPE does not develop vehicles, ECUs or proprietary sensors when mature industrial components already exist. It integrates qualified COTS hardware through a proprietary software layer that is stable, upgradeable and hardware-independent.
The context
Tractors, sweepers and mobile machines perform repetitive, slow, high-frequency tasks. Brands, ages, interfaces, steering geometries, payloads and operating environments change case by case.
Vehicle architecture changes from platform to platform. Control cannot rely on one fixed hardware configuration.
Existing vehicles need an installable solution that does not turn into a new custom engineering project every time.
The challenge is not adding a sensor. It is making hardware, machine and control work together in a repeatable way.
Three applications, one core
For tractors and sweepers YAPE stays L1: it assists steering while the driver keeps supervision, speed, braking and responsibility. Guardian runs supervised patrols in private or controlled areas, with YAPE as technology provider. One software platform, three initial applications, no L3/L4 promises.
Software-defined stack
Rows, edges, curbs
Rows, crop edges, curbs and road edges are turned into a virtual guidance reference. The camera does not need to understand the world: it extracts the geometric reference needed for lateral control.
Vehicle Signature
YAPE characterizes how each vehicle actually behaves (steering ratio, delay, dead zone, hysteresis, left/right response, speed-dependent dynamics) and adapts control without touching the software core.
Key milestone: an unknown vehicle is characterized and guided stably without modifying the software core.
Buy before build
YAPE’s value is not in the bill of materials. It is in the layer that makes hardware and vehicles interchangeable.
L1 by design + controlled stop
YAPE does not normally manage speed or braking. The Safety Supervisor moves the system toward a safe state: immediate steering disengagement, and a controlled stop when the vehicle offers a qualified braking interface.
Always available: physical disable of the steering actuator.
Stop request through a qualified electronic vehicle interface, where supported.
Brake actuator or interface validated only on specific vehicle platforms.
No autonomous obstacle avoidance. Obstacle or fault → warning, disengage and safe stop where available.
How we work
We assess your vehicle, its interfaces, safety and cost factors to define the right integration approach.
We analyze the routes, references and operating conditions the system must support in the real world.
We install qualified hardware and measure the vehicle’s behaviour so control adapts without changing the core.
We configure, validate and put the system into operation in your environment, with the driver in control.
Ongoing maintenance and remote software updates keep the system secure and improving over time.
Operations in the real world
The new YAPE turns years of autonomous projects into a concrete platform: L1 reference-guided control, mobile-machine supervision and hardware-agnostic software.
Hardware is bought. Intelligence is built. We build the intelligence.Discuss your vehicle
Our story
Nearly a decade of field projects, condensed into one control core for professional vehicles.
YAPE was born in 2017 as a self-driving ground drone for logistics and last-mile delivery. Behind the prototype was the YAPE platform: modular and vehicle-agnostic from day one.
With its sensors and connectivity, YAPE was built to navigate and interact with smart-city infrastructure in real-world conditions.
YAPE worked with Japan Post, Milan Malpensa and Frankfurt airports in high-traffic environments, with UpTown Milan and the EU Commission’s Joint Research Centre on smart-city integration, and with PepsiCo in New York. Work with Politecnico di Milano helped fine-tune perception and localization.
The next step was to bring the platform to other vehicles. Rob.Y, a digital chassis developed with e-Shock and Streparava, was the first porting of the YAPE software to a different platform and opened the way to multi-vehicle applications.
YAPE focused on software, opening collaborations in agriculture and off-highway markets and porting its control core across different vehicle types.
The new YAPE turns that experience into a focused platform: L1 lateral assistance guided by physical references for tractors and sweepers, supervised missions for mobile machines with YAPE Guardian, and hardware-agnostic software built on qualified COTS components.
Hardware evolves. YAPE remains.Discuss your vehicle
Track record & news
The pilots, partnerships and research projects behind today’s platform.
Contact us
Tell us about your fleet and use case. We will get back to you.
Transparency
Last update: 21/02/2025