BERLIN — German engineering and technology company, Bosch and Cariad, a subsidiary of carmaker Volkswagen Group, have concluded an extensive partnership agreement to accelerate the introduction of automated driving.
The aim of the partnership is to make “partially and highly automated driving suitable for volume production, and thus available to the broad mass of consumers,” the two German companies said in a joint statement, Xinhua news agency reported.
The first automated driving functions are scheduled to be installed across various brands of the Volkswagen Group in 2023.
“Automated driving is key to the future of our industry,” said Dirk Hilgenberg, Cariad’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO). “With our cooperation, we’ll strengthen Germany’s reputation for innovativeness. Bosch and Cariad will further enhance their expertise in the development of pioneering technologies.”
The systems would allow drivers to temporarily take their hands off the steering wheel, according to the statement. These functions are so-called Level 2 “hands-free” systems for urban, extra-urban and freeway driving, but the companies are also working on a system that takes over all driving functions on the freeway (SAE Level 3).
At the height of the development phase, more than 1,000 experts from the two companies are expected to work on the elements of the project, from middleware to individual applications, according to the statement.
The focus is on data-driven software development based on information from 360-degree surround sensing. For this purpose, a “highly innovative development environment will be created for the recording, evaluation and processing of data,” the companies said.
— BERNAMA
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