The Volkswagen Group and Microsoft want to work together to advance automated driving. (Picture: Volkswagen)

Volkswagen is investing in the development of automated driving functions. The Group’s own software company Car.Software Organisation will work with Microsoft to build a cloud-based platform to enable automated driving.

With a cloud-based platform, the Car.Software organization, which is part of the Volkswagen Group, aims to develop driver assistance systems and automated driving functions in passenger cars for the Volkswagen Group brands more efficiently. Volkswagen and Microsoft have already been working together since 2018 as part of a strategic partnership on the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud, which is to encompass all of Volkswagen’s digital services and mobility offerings in the future.

“As part of the Volkswagen Group’s transformation into a digital mobility provider, we are continuously striving for greater efficiency in software development. We are building the Automated Driving Platform (ADP) together with Microsoft to make our developers’ work easier via a scalable and data-driven development environment. By combining our extensive expertise in developing connected driving features with Microsoft’s expertise in cloud computing and software engineering, we are accelerating the delivery of safe and convenient mobility services.”
Dirk Hilgenberg, CEO of the Car.Software Organization

Unified platform accelerates development

Driver assistance systems and automated driving vehicles are credited with improving safety while reducing congestion and making mobility more comfortable. However, the development of such solutions requires huge computing power. Every day, petabytes of data on road and weather conditions, obstacle detection and driving behavior must be processed for training, simulation and validation of automated functions. Algorithms that learn from billions of real and simulated driving kilometers are seen by experts as key to developing connected driving experiences.

“This is the next stage of our strategic collaboration with Volkswagen Group to support its transformation into a software-driven mobility provider. Microsoft Azure will enable Volkswagen with its cloud, data and AI services to deliver safe and reliable automated driving capabilities to customers faster.”
Scott Guthrie, Executive Vice President Cloud + AI at Microsoft

ADP will simplify development work by enabling “learning from kilometers driven” via a central database. This will incorporate traffic data from the Group’s vehicles as well as simulation data. Microsoft Azure’s cloud, data and machine learning services, as well as Microsoft’s expertise in agile software development, will form the basis for building a central development environment for the Car.Software organization’s global development teams. With the help of ADP, development cycles are expected to shorten from months to weeks. Even large amounts of data can be managed efficiently. The companies will start work on ADP directly and continuously expand the functional scope of the development platform.

Both companies also want to enable technology partners to develop tools and services that can be integrated into the platform to further improve the development of assisted and automated driving functions.

Volkswagen strengthens software development

The Volkswagen Group plans to invest around 27 billion euros in digitization by 2025 and increase its own share of software development in cars from ten percent today to 60 percent. The Car.Software organization founded last year plays a key role in VW’s transformation into a software-driven mobility provider. It bundles the Group’s software expertise and is continuously expanding it, including the development of driving and parking functions for the passenger car models of the Group brands.

Volkswagen Automotive Cloud

Volkswagen and Microsoft have already been working together since 2018 on the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud (VW.AC), which in future will focus on all digital services and mobility offerings of the Group’s brands and models. The VW.AC development team in Seattle has already successfully implemented data exchange between vehicles and the cloud via Azure edge services. The cloud connection will enable Volkswagen to provide updates and new functions independently of the vehicle hardware in the future in order to continuously improve the customer experience.

The first test fleets networked with VW.AC are scheduled to hit the road in 2021, with volume production planned for 2022. The Car.Software organization will develop the ADP and VW.AC in close integration, integrating its software solutions, tools and methodologies to empower its development teams, customers and partners around the world. With the help of VW.AC, the assisted and automated driving functions developed on ADP will be tested, deployed and operated across the Group’s vehicle fleet.