Continental is joining a collaboration between BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye around autonomous driving. The technology company will be involved in the collaboration as a development partner and system integrator.
Continental is joining a collaboration between BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye around autonomous driving. The technology company will be involved in the collaboration as a development partner and system integrator.
The project by BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye was announced in July 2016. The collaboration should lead to the first fully autonomous BMW vehicles, which should be on the market by 2021. However, the parties also want to start delivering scalable autonomous driving solutions to the entire automotive industry. As a system integrator, Continental will play an important role in industrialising this platform for other carmakers and bringing the joint solutions to market faster.
Role of Continental
Autonomous driving is not new to Continental. The company has been conducting public road tests with autonomous vehicles in Japan since 2014. For the project of BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye, Continental provides product and system expertise, among other things. The focus here is on developing new functions and integrating automated systems, including systems that monitor drivers and motion control. In addition, Continental will focus on simulation and validation of functions. Continental and BMW Group have previously collaborated on several joint development and series projects.
"Every new Tier One partner brings us closer to our goal: we want to bring safe autonomous driving into mass production by 2021 and actively shape this technology," explained Klaus Fröhlicht, BMW board member. "With our non-exclusive approach around this technology of the future, we will deliver a safe, fast and cost-efficient solution that is attractive to other manufacturers."
Solution not redevelopment
"Such partnerships have a great advantage when it comes to the complexity of technology and developments: we do not have to redevelop solutions already built by our partners. Indeed, we can use their knowledge and build on example previously tested on the road, adapting them to the most diverse needs of customers. Together with the partners involved, we can work more efficiently on research and development tasks with the aim of developing the next generation of technologies for automated driving. In addition, this cooperation provides solutions that are more cost-effective for our customers and affordable for end users," said Karl Haupt, head of Continental's Advanced Drive Assistance Systems business unit.
The components and systems being worked on within the project will be developed and produced in locations around the world. These include the United States, Japan, China, India and Europe. Continental cites the importance of testing development vehicles on public roads in all regions worldwide to ensure that car manufacturers can embrace the technology incrementally. The company also stresses that the technology can be adapted to meet local requirements, such as regulations.
Delphi
Besides Continental, Delphi is also involved in the project. This company focuses entirely on autonomous driving and is headquartered in the UK's Gillingham. As a system integrator, Delphi focuses on integrating BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye's solution into OEMs' vehicle architectures. It also provides software and hardware components, including sensors.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source: Continental
Source: BMW Group
Source: Delphi
