There is a lot happening in the automotive industry. Road safety, sustainability, and optimization of traffic flows are topics that we work on extensively with our customers.
The challenge lies in mastering complexity! Connected systems and a broad variety of model versions as well as more and more functions necessitate modern methods in development and verification and validation to ensure that innovations make it to the road.
Active systems that help avoid accidents and support drivers are the norm. Even the vision of an electronic chauffeur is no longer just an abstract idea. The complexity, connectivity, and considerable safety requirements of these systems place extremely high demands on development, integration, and quality assurance. After all, only the reliable and robust interaction of different safety and driver-assistance systems can pave the way to a more comprehensive means of aiding drivers: This can ultimately lead to highly automated or even autonomous driving on public roads.
Automated driving is an extremely broad topic. It includes computer vision – where ITK specialists teach vehicles to see – as well as a vehicle’s connectivity with its surroundings and even cognitive intelligence, which allows a vehicle to make smart decisions. Automated driving also encompasses established yet increasingly complex topics such as safety and security. In short, this field constitutes a tremendous field of experimentation for engineers, scientists, and computer specialists.
This interdisciplinary field needs professionals from diverse backgrounds. Traditional computer scientists are every bit as important as specialists in model development and sensor systems. Image-processing experts, for example, are needed to help with camera systems. New disciplines are becoming important all the time, such as machine learning.
It is very costly and time-consuming to develop driver-assistance systems due to their complexity, connectivity, and considerable security requirements. This is because, among other things, realistic environmental simulations as perceived by sensor systems must be carried out to validate and verify the systems. At the same time, companies must master cost constraints and development cycles that are increasingly shorter.
ITK has developed an environmental simulation based on established technologies from the gaming industry that can efficiently verify and validate environmental-recognition driver-assistance systems. This makes it possible in early development phases to check detection features with regard to sensor positioning and vehicle design. Technologies from the gaming industry exhibit very good operational performance. In addition, the short development cycles in consumer electronics allow for rapid advancements at comparably low acquisition costs.
Traffic updates on the heads-up display. Parking via smartphone. Reducing fuel consumption thanks to information on the vehicle’s surroundings. The processing of external data in real time truly connects vehicles with their surroundings.
In addition to numerous opportunities, connectivity also poses risks and opens new doors to vehicles for hackers. At ITK, you can help customize security strategies and implement protective mechanisms. To ensure we remain a step ahead, we work hard on cybersecurity in research alliances and on committees.
With the objective of continuing to reduce CO2 emissions, the electrification of drives and auxiliary components continues to gain speed. Energy storage units are therefore attracting more attention from developers. At ITK, we use dependable operating and charging strategies, battery-management systems, and tailored control units to help our clients develop electric vehicles.
Not only do we work on improving the sustainability of vehicles; we also strive to improve the charging infrastructure.
E-mobility plays a key role in our research alliance with the center for e-mobility at the Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences (CEMO).
In the scope of our close collaboration on battery and drive technologies, we scrutinize battery behavior and develop drive solutions that reduce climate-changing emissions.
If you think that motorsports are always loud and dirty, think again. Formula E is committed to eco-friendliness, conserving resources, and sustainability without hampering the passion that characterizes motorsports. Electric race cars not only provide a completely new experience for drivers and spectators alike; they also add a whole new dimension to the sport. As a technology partner of the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team, our engineers have been making key contributions to the control system of the electric powertrain since 2016. This encompasses the energy strategy and cockpit display as a human-machine interface for visualizing energy values.
Join us to help develop smart software and electronic components that put racecar drivers on the winner’s podium.
