Microsoft, Volkswagen come together to enhance development of automated driving

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Microsoft and Volkswagen group’s software company Car.Software Organisation will collaborate to build a cloud-based Automated Driving Platform (ADP).

To be built on Microsoft Azure, the platfrom will leverage compute and data capabilities to deliver automated driving experiences even faster at global scale.

With ADP running on Azure, Car.Software Organisation will enhance the efficiency of the development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and AD functions for passenger cars across Volkswagen Group brands.

Strategic partners

Microsoft and Volkswagen have been strategic partners on the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud since 2018, which will span all of Volkswagen’s future digital services and mobility offerings.

Dirk Hilgenberg, CEO of the Car.Software Organisation, said, “As we transform Volkswagen Group into a digital mobility provider, we are looking to continuously increase the efficiency of our software development. We are building the Automated Driving Platform with Microsoft to simplify our developers’ work through one scalable and data-based engineering environment.”

He added: “By combining our comprehensive expertise in the development of connected driving solutions with Microsoft’s cloud and software engineering know-how, we will accelerate the delivery of safe and comfortable mobility services.”

Scott Guthrie, executive vice president, Cloud + AI at Microsoft, said, “This is the next evolution of our foundational work with the Volkswagen Group to enhance their transformation as a software-driven mobility provider.”

“The power of Microsoft Azure and its compute, data and AI capabilities will enable Volkswagen to deliver secure and reliable automated driving solutions to their customers faster,” he added.

Automated driving vehicles and ADAS can help improve passenger safety while reducing congestion and making mobility even more comfortable.

Construction of these solutions requires large-scale computational capabilities. Petabytes of data from road and weather conditions to obstacle detection and driver behavior need to be managed every day for the simulation, training and validation of AD functions.

Machine learning algorithms that learn from billions of simulated and real miles driven are key to connected driving experiences.

(With inputs from Automotive Lead Research Team)