Even though high-ranking BMW officials have repeatedly said that (fully) autonomous driving is still a long way out and may not even become reality at all as we imagine it today, it looks like the BMW Group is in no way stopping from developing such solutions. The Germans announced the signing of two new partnerships in the field today, joining forces with KPIT and TTTech as software development partners for autonomous driving.
This is just another step in the long and arduous process of getting this technology off the ground. KPIT and TTTech are the latest partners joining forces with BMW and they are to press ahead with the scalable autonomous driving platform being developed by the German company as we speak. The aim to to reach Level 3 and Level 4/5 functions in the near future. According to BMW the partners will be able to assist with rolling out the software stack within the Autonomous Driving Platform to third parties, thereby facilitating access for OEMs. This will make it easier to integrate other OEMs and begin offering scalable software solutions across the industry.
“Tackling this immense challenge calls for an all-embracing approach,” said Elmar Frickenstein, Senior Vice President Fully Automated Driving and Driver Assistance, BMW AG Munich. “This includes building strong alliances that allow us to gain valuable know-how and also speed things up. In order to achieve our objective in 2021, we are collaborating with the best technology partners in the world,” he added.
Since July 2016, the BMW Group has been developing a network of world-leading technology partners to help expand the platform’s footprint. These include Intel, Mobileye, Continental, Magna, FCA, Aptiv and Baidu. The first car to showcase some of the findings in the field will be the BMW iNext which is set to be launched in production guise in 2021.
