Back in 2018, Volkswagen and Microsoft announced a strategic partnership on the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud (VW.AC), which is focused on integrating all the digital services and mobility offerings across the Volkswagen Group brands and models in the future.
Today, Volkswagen announced that it is working with Microsoft to build an Azure-based Automated Driving Platform (ADP). With ADP running on Azure, Volkswagen’s Car.Software organization will increase the efficiency of the development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and AD functions for passenger cars across Volkswagen Group brands.
Collaboration details:
■ Car.Software Organisation will work with Microsoft to simplify the developer experience and leverage the “learnings from miles driven” through one database comprising real traffic data from the Group’s vehicles as well as simulation data.
■ Microsoft Azure compute, data, and machine learning services as well as Microsoft’s know-how in agile software development will enable one development environment for Car.Software Organisation’s developers globally.
■ ADP will help reduce the development cycles from months to weeks and efficiently manage the huge amount of data. The companies will start working on ADP immediately and are looking to continuously expand the functional scope of the development platform.
■ Both companies intend to enable technology partners to build tools and services that integrate with the platform to enhance the creation of AD and ADAS solutions.
■ The first VW.AC connected test fleets are expected to hit the road in 2021. Production rollout is planned for 2022. Car.Software Organisation will integrate ADP and VW.AC as the company moves toward further integrating its software solutions, tools, and methods to empower its engineering teams, customers, and partners globally.
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