08.09.2025

Press release

Automated mobility

IAA Mobility 2025: Bosch is shaping the new vehicle world with intelligent hardw ...

Munich, Germany – In the automotive industry, the Bosch name is synonymous with software. The technology company is demonstrating this to impressive effect at this year’s IAA Mobility in Munich. And there’s more: from a single source, Bosch also supplies hardware that’s tailored to the possibilities of the software – a compelling unique selling point for the company worldwide. “Bosch knows its way around software and hardware. Without sophisticated hardware, even the smartest car won’t move a single millimeter,” said Dr. Stefan Hartung, chairman of the Bosch board of management, at the trade fair. “Our aim is to continue playing a key role in shaping the industry in the age of software-driven mobility by offering tailored, intelligent solutions.” Bosch knows its way around software and hardware. Without sophisticated hardware, even the smartest car won’t move a single millimeter. Our aim is to continue playing a key role in shaping the industry in the age of software-driven mobility by offering tailored, intelligent solutions....Dr. Stefan Hartung, chairman of the Bosch board of management Initial indications point to success: Bosch has established a foothold in the software-driven world. One example is Bosch’s by-wire systems for braking and steering, which are considered a key technology for software-defined vehicles and automated driving. Here, the software takes control; a mechanical connection is no longer necessary. This is an important business for Bosch. With brake-by-wire and steer-by-wire, the company expects to achieve cumulative sales revenue of more than 7 billion euros by 2032. The market dynamics of this key technology will continue to accelerate in the 2030s. By-wire technology is a taste of what lies ahead for vehicle construction overall. “In the future, hardware will be designed to fit software requirements,” said Dr. Markus Heyn, member of the Bosch board of management and chairman of the Mobility business sector. In the future, hardware will be designed to fit software requirements,...Dr. Markus Heyn, member of the Bosch board of management and chairman of the Mobility business sector Bosch wants to turn cars into personal assistants In software-driven mobility, Bosch Mobility’s business continues to develop – from hardware with embedded software, to services, to completely independent software that manufacturers and partners then integrate into their ecosystems. “Whether stand-alone or interconnected, standardized, integrated, or decoupled – we can offer everything exactly as the customer wants it,” Hartung said. This is clearly having an impact: despite stagnating global vehicle production, weak demand, and delays in electromobility and automated driving, Bosch Mobility will grow slightly in the current year. The increase in sales revenue is expected to amount to a little less than 2 percent. Up to today, a vehicle was never as new as the moment it was delivered. “In the future, however, its software will be continuously updated and it will be constantly learning by means of artificial intelligence,” Heyn said. “More than anything else, the new mobility is user centered.” This is what that looks like: Bosch’s Vehicle Motion Management software coordinates all vehicle movements by centrally controlling the brakes, steering, powertrain, and chassis. This improves coordination between the individual systems – and also means they can be adjusted to the driver’s preferences. A particularly smooth ride today? A little more agility tomorrow? And jolt-free stopping the day after? No problem – at the touch of a button, the car feels completely different. Incidentally, Bosch’s Vehicle Motion Management is decoupled from the hardware, which makes it easy to use in different vehicle architectures. That’s not just theory, it’s happening: the Bosch software is in widespread use, with more than two dozen manufacturers in Europe, China, and Japan already having adopted it. Over the next three years, Bosch will be investing a nine-figure sum in Vehicle Motion Management and expanding its modular software and function portfolio across all domains. Vehicle Motion Management from Bosch works even better in combination with by-wire solutions, because the software can control the respective braking and steering actuators independently of the driver’s actions – for greater safety, improved convenience, or better vehicle dynamics. Bosch’s smart software makes the difference Bosch’s ADAS product family is also software-driven. For intelligent driver assistance systems, vehicle manufacturers can choose from three preconfigured variants that can then be put into production quickly and in a brand-specific way. Here, too, hardware and software can be integrated or purchased separately, depending on customer requirements. Both options benefit from a holistic approach: since Bosch understands the interaction between hardware and software, it can offer individually optimized solutions that can be seamlessly integrated into existing environments. Modern vehicles, which are designed and developed from a software standpoint, make use of ever fewer, but more powerful vehicle computers. These are a growth driver for Bosch: its high-performance computer business is currently growing by more than 5 percent every year, with automakers such as the BMW Group among the customers. Bosch also offers central vehicle computers that combine various functions, such as in driver assistance and infotainment, on just one control unit and one system on a chip (SoC). This saves space, costs, and energy. These systems have a modular structure and can flexibly integrate software from different manufacturers. In China, Bosch is supplying a high-performance computer to SAIC-GM to create a cockpit featuring artificial intelligence. Thanks to this AI cockpit, drivers can talk to their car in a completely natural way and interact with it as if it were a human being. Bosch’s knowledge and expertise make it a sought-after partner The software-driven future is fundamentally changing the automotive industry. Bosch wants to seize the opportunities this new world presents – and is in a good position to do so. Hardly any other company combines hardware and software expertise and global presence as seamlessly as Bosch. This makes the company a flexible and reliable partner for the development of intelligent and connected vehicles. After all, strategic partnerships are crucial, particularly where new business models and scalable software systems are concerned. In China, Bosch is already working with WeRide and Horizon Robotics on the development of systems for assisted and automated driving. In Europe, Bosch and the VW subsidiary Cariad are strategic partners in this area. Bosch assumes that such alliances will become increasingly important in the future, and that the proportion of software in vehicles will continue to rise – and with it, the benefits for drivers in the form of even safer and more convenient mobility.

11.08.2025

Press release

Automated mobility

Bosch and CARIAD are making automated driving even safer and more convenient with AI

Bosch and CARIAD are intensifying their cooperation within the Automated Driving Alliance: the partners are developing their software stack for Level 2 and 3 assisted and automated driving by making full use of artificial intelligence. To this end, Bosch and CARIAD are expanding their existing approaches to include state-of-the-art AI methods. This should lead to more powerful, more intelligent driver assistance systems that act as naturally as a human driver – taking the driving experience to a new level and making it even safer. The software stack covers all essential cognitive tasks of perception, interpretation, decision-making, and action. When it comes to getting automated driving systems onto the roads reliably and at scale, data and AI are the key....Mathias Pillin, CTO of Bosch Mobility Expanding the use of modern AI brings the Automated Driving Alliance another step closer to its major goal: Bosch and CARIAD want to make automated driving available to millions of private motorists, from the mass-market to the premium segment. Their goal is for the new driving functions to allow drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel in various driving situations. The first versions have been implemented in test fleets and are now being systematically trained and further developed on a daily basis with large amounts of data. A software stack for application in production projects will then be available from mid-2026 onward. The Volkswagen Group plans to integrate Bosch and CARIAD’s automated driving functions into its new architecture for software-defined vehicles. Covering the range from individual driving functions to the complete software environment, Bosch will also make this scalable solution available to other manufacturers worldwide in order to actively promote automated driving on a broad scale. The project team of the two companies thus impressively demonstrates that dedicated partnership, technological excellence, and a clear focus on goals lead to innovative European solutions. Peter Bosch, the CARIAD CEO, says: “We’re demonstrating that the German automotive industry has mastered the key technologies of artificial intelligence and automated driving. With the expertise of our developers and engineers, we are securing an integral part of Europe’s digital sovereignty. Our goal in the Alliance is to make the convenience and safety of automated driving systems accessible to as many people as possible so that they can gain valuable time when they’re in their car.” Mathias Pillin, CTO of Bosch Mobility, adds: “When it comes to getting automated driving systems onto the roads reliably and at scale, data and AI are the key. We can only rise to this challenge together if we work as equal partners and abandon ingrained mindsets. Together with CARIAD in the Automated Driving Alliance, we’re showing how this can work.” Use of AI in all technology components The Automated Driving Alliance has been using AI since the partnership begin – in, for example, the area of perception for functions such as object recognition. AI is now being used along the entire software technology chain: in everything from object recognition and the fusion of various sensors such as cameras and radars to decision-making and the safe automated control of the powertrain, steering, and brakes. In the future, the automated driving functions will be based on an end-to-end AI architecture in which all modules will become even more powerful and intelligent through the use of AI. At the heart of these developments is the use of state-of-the-art technology familiar from generative AI applications. Just as language models understand complex semantic relationships, the Automated Driving Alliance’s new AI stack can analyze urban traffic scenarios and anticipate both the current and potential behavior of road users from different sensor modalities. Bosch and CARIAD are making these technological advances within the framework of a modern engineering environment and comprehensive hardware strategy that will ensure scalable and future-proof implementation in all vehicle classes. End-to-end development of all technology elements with their own source code and intellectual property forms the basis of the development partnership. This enables complete technical control of the source code with clear standards for data protection, security, driving safety, and transparency, as well as the ability to generate innovations quickly and flexibly through source code optimization and then deliver them to customers. The developers design the architecture in such a way that the AI’s decisions and actions remain safe, traceable, and explainable. The software stack also lays the groundwork for the possible integration of multimodal AI approaches that link visual and linguistic information. Called vision-language-action (VLA) approaches, they can imitate the logical thinking and actions of humans. Such a step would enable even more efficient training and an even deeper understanding of complex traffic situations. For example, VLAs can help detect hidden risks while driving and facilitate the appropriate response. Large test fleet for daily training of driving systems The AI stack will make automated driving in the Level 2 and Level 3 range even more robust. Up to the start of production, performance will be steadily improved by continuously collecting enormous amounts of data in order to maximize the system’s safety and reliability. A comprehensive test and validation fleet on public roads is essential for this. The CARIAD and Bosch teams are working together worldwide, testing the driving functions on public roads in Europe, Japan, and the U.S. – underlining their ambitious plan to create a software stack for automated driving that can be used in many global markets. Development is data-driven, which means that the software can be imported into the test vehicles several times a day with new updates and optimizations to the source code. The technology is already being used in test vehicles such as the ID.Buzz and the Audi Q8. This year alone, hundreds of additional test vehicles will be equipped with a comprehensive set of sensors in order to collect high-quality data. That data helps developers further optimize the AI stack and analyze rare and complex driving situations, known as corner cases. Thanks to the development of an end-to-end, AI-supported software solution, assisted and automated driving will become even safer and more convenient for the consumer.

21.11.2023

Press release

Automated mobility

German industry proposes new development standard for safe automated driving

Stuttgart, Germany – Four years ago, the German automotive industry joined forces with 21 partners in a project to develop the world’s first structures for the verification of safety standards for automated vehicles in an urban environment. The results of the joint Verification and Validation Methods (VVM) project are now available. The findings of the pre-competitive research project, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and initiated by the VDA flagship initiative autonomous and connected driving, will be discussed in detail at the final presentation at the Carl Benz Arena in Stuttgart today.The higher the level of automated driving and the more complex a system’s area of application, the more factors need to be taken into account during development. The first SAE Level 3 systems for freeway driving and an SAE Level 4 system for driverless parking have already been approved. Expanding the use of these systems to other applications – such as urban traffic – means that the vehicle and system become much more complex and subject to far stricter requirements. This explains the need for suitable verification and validation methods, which was the focus of the VVM project’s efforts. The challenge of urban traffic “Pedestrians, cyclists, motorized two-wheelers, intersections with limited visibility: one of the biggest challenges for automated driving systems is coping with traffic in an urban environment, which is characterized by a huge volume of road users, traffic light systems, traffic signs, and vehicles,” says Roland Galbas from Bosch, the coordinator of the VVM consortium project. “For future vehicles to be able to handle even extremely rare scenarios, they will need comprehensible structures and processes that not only enable the safe operation of a system in exceptional situations, but can also verify that maneuvering is done safely.” “The essence of the VVM research project is to verify that automated driving functions react safely and reliably, and that they also benefit customers in terms of precision and quality,” says Dr. Mark Schiementz from BMW, the co-coordinator of the project. “In addition to compliance with regulations, the guiding principle behind the German automotive industry’s work is not only to get technological progress onto the roads as quickly as possible, but also to provide safe vehicles and systems that can be relied on at all times. And this reliability starts right from the development of these systems.” Approval for road use requires verifiable safety Right from the very beginning of the design and development of automated driving functions, safety is the overriding consideration. And safety functions must be verified before a vehicle can be approved and certified for use in road traffic. To be able to provide this verification, the 21 project partners have jointly developed a model comprising a suite of procedures, methods, and tools. This allows a “security argumentation” to be employed to verify that the system is safe to use. To develop the methodology for this model, the partners worked together in several subprojects. If it were applied industry-wide, the defined model would provide the basis for verifying the safety of automated vehicles. “The models developed here make it possible for the first time to provide all automakers with the same structures for the verification and validation of automated driving systems in urban areas. This may then also lead to industry-wide standards that could make road traffic even safer for all road users,” explains Dr. Helmut Schittenhelm, project coordinator at Mercedes-Benz. Technology pioneer from Germany The VVM project’s methodological approach is the world’s first standard to also take industrial processes into account, once again underscoring the German automotive industry’s pioneering role in automated driving. The world’s first regulation for fully automated driving (SAE Level 4) came into force in 2021, when Germany enacted a law to that effect. In 2022, a corresponding regulation outlining the technical details was passed to allow such vehicles to be registered and operated on German roads. These latest developments are yet another example of how the German automotive industry is tackling the complexity of automated driving and making it more manageable. At the end of its project term, and building on the results of its Pegasus and SetLevel predecessor projects, VVM now delivers the world’s first consistent methodical approach to safety for automated driving in an urban environment, enabling industry-wide collaboration and value creation. The scenario-based safety verification approach pursued in the project could help to set global standards once it has been approved by the authorities. VVM has created a reference system for the industry that is relevant for the future, closes a methodological gap for practical validation, and secures the pioneering role of German industry in international competition on automated driving.

08.09.2022

Press release

Business/economy

GAIA-X 4 moveID project develops basis for secure mobile data exchange

Stuttgart, Germany – Which parking garages currently have vacant charge spots available? Where are free parking spaces in the city center? And how can this information be digitally transmitted, and services billed, across providers? The answer to these and similar questions calls for secure data exchange between the vehicles and their environment. It is precisely this foundation that a research project consisting of universities, automotive suppliers, and system providers is now in the process of building, with Bosch leading the consortium. Over the next three years, the GAIA-X 4 moveID project is set to develop the necessary standards and technological concepts to enable the secure exchange of information between providers of mobility applications and their customers. The goal is to create decentralized digital vehicle identities. This is an important prerequisite for the mass use of electric vehicles, automated driving, and the establishment of connected cities. GAIA-X 4 moveID is supported to the tune of 14 million euros by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action – covering half of the project costs.Connectivity for digital services across the board “An integrated and transparent system architecture for the exchange of data on the road that incorporates different products and players simply isn’t available today. While it’s true that some companies out there already offer services, those services are tailored for specific applications, vehicles, or customer groups,” explains Peter Busch, project manager at the consortium leader Bosch. They often map the infrastructure, for example, but they rarely provide information about availability due to a lack of connectivity between the many independently operating service providers. “Open standards are needed so that users, for example, can find all available charging stations or pay for charging processes,” Busch says. It’s important to always ensure that the data is processed securely and that individual providers don’t exploit it solely for their own purposes. For Busch, this is the only way that the necessary user confidence can grow and a broad range of all available services, such as so-called deep parking (use of otherwise unavailable parking spaces), can be created. That is why the consortium is building on the European GAIA-X system, which defines the technological, economic, and legal framework for a secure and trustworthy data infrastructure. GAIA-X relies on decentralization and the interplay of different cloud providers under common guidelines. In this spirit, the GAIA-X 4 moveID project is using open source software for its developments and making them available to all providers for various business models. Vehicles are becoming marketplaces The standards that GAIA-X 4 moveID is pursuing will allow vehicles to securely and independently exchange information with other vehicles and their environment without an “intermediary.” The vehicles’ “infrastructure partners” include charge spots, barriers, traffic lights, and parking lots. The research project will use internationally recognized hardware and software to develop management and administrative services to facilitate the interaction and trade between different players. This will enable providers to connect a great many services, such as news, entertainment, and navigation, with the car’s system, especially in automated driving. The market for services related to connected parking alone is estimated to be worth ten billion euros annually worldwide. What’s more, the ability to navigate directly to a vacant parking space significantly reduces congestion and emissions. After all, today, about a third of downtown urban traffic is people looking for parking spaces. The availability of information is also a crucial factor for the success of electromobility. It is estimated that about half of newly registered cars in Europe will be electric by 2030. “Their drivers need to know that they’ll be able to find a charge spot quickly whenever they need one. And that requires connected systems,” Busch says. Extensive data exchange as a basis for automated driving The mass use of automated vehicles is conceivable only if cars are able to quickly and reliably communicate with their environment. The data exchange this requires will enable climate-friendly traffic control based on the volume of traffic at any given moment. This will allow cities to regulate incoming traffic to particular areas in real time, thus preventing congestion. However, this method, known as zoning, requires that vehicles be able to immediately recognize changing conditions and to reroute accordingly. Zoning is being demonstrated with test vehicles – for the first time across borders – in the Germany-France-Luxembourg (Merzig/Saarbrücken) test area as part of the GAIA-X 4 moveID project. The cars receive dynamic information regarding their approach to defined zones.The project partners: Robert Bosch GmbH Materna Information & Communications SE Denso Automotive Deutschland GmbH Continental Automotive Technlogies GmbH WOBCOM GmbH ecsec GmbH HTW Saar (University of Applied Sciences) Atos Information Technology GmbH Chainstep GmbH Peaq Technology GmbH Zeppelin Universität gGmbH (Zeppelin University) Datarella GmbH 51nodes GmbH Bigchain DB GmbH Fetch.ai Research & Development GmbH ITK Engineering GmbH Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (German Aerospace Center) Airbus Defence and Space GmbH Delta Dao AG

15.07.2021

Press release

Automated mobility

Swarm intelligence for automated driving

Stuttgart, Germany – Is it possible to help automated driving achieve a breakthrough just by driving? Sure – at least for drivers behind the wheel of a VW Golf 8. As they drive along, these vehicles can provide information for the Bosch road signature. The cloud-based service uses real-world traffic data from sensors to provide multilayer high-resolution maps and keep them up to date. For driving that is becoming increasingly automated, this function is crucial. “We are pleased to be paving the way to tomorrow’s mobility today together with partners,” says Dr. Mathias Pillin, president of the Bosch Cross-Domain Computing Solutions division.If cars are to drive on their own in the future, they will need highly accurate digital maps – and to know precisely where they are on those maps. This is exactly what the Bosch road signature offers: using information from radar and video sensors, as well as vehicle motion data, it augments common navigation maps with additional layers for vehicle localization and control. These additional layers are compatible with typical map formats. Data is currently being generated to set up the road signature. Starting in 2023, vehicles will feature the signature along with an initial number of services. Bosch plans to use current data to continuously expand the signature and keep it up to date. While the other map levels truly unfold their full potential especially in vehicles featuring Level 2 hands-free functions and higher, they also offer advantages at lower levels. “The more vehicles that provide information now and in the future, the larger and more robust the database will be for automated and assisted driving,” Pillin says. Digital twin of the vehicle environment VW is leading the way with the high-volume Golf 8 in Europe, with other vehicles to follow. Specifically, the solution works like this: while on the road, the vehicle fleet uses surround sensors to generate information about landmarks such as road signs, guardrails, curbs, and lane markings. The vehicles send the data completely anonymously via the VW cloud to the Bosch cloud. Furthermore, only the information that is required for the map layers is transmitted. The road signature is created in the Bosch cloud on this basis, producing a kind of digital twin of the real environment. We are pleased to be paving the way to tomorrow’s mobility today together with partners...Dr. Mathias Pillin, president of the Bosch Cross-Domain Computing Solutions division Thanks to the Bosch road signature, vehicles can determine their position with a high degree of accuracy: in real time, each vehicle compares the information currently provided by its surround sensors with that of its digital twin. This comparison enables the cars to accurately determine their position in the lane down to a few decimeters relative to the highly accurate map. The use of radar means that localization works reliably even in adverse weather conditions such as fog, rain, and snow – conditions which make it difficult, if not impossible, for a camera to perceive its surroundings. Natural driving behavior of automated vehicles In addition, the road signature enables safer and more convenient lateral and longitudinal guidance of automated vehicles, as it contains information not only about landmarks, but also about road geometry, lane layout, road signs, and speed limits. It even includes typical driving behavior at specific locations: for instance, how do human drivers approach a curve? When do they step on the brakes before an intersection? What do they do when they change lanes prior to making a turn? To answer such questions, the service uses motion data such as speed, steering angle, and wheel speed. In the future, the road signature will provide vehicles with this information – and thus help make automated driving an experience that is as natural, comfortable, and safe as possible. Bosch and VW are moving closer to this goal with every kilometer driven.

30.08.2019

Press release

Automated mobility

Better than a pair of eyes: Bosch camera with AI for driver assistance and autom ...

Stuttgart, Germany, and Yokohama, Japan – Automated driving technology is gradually providing more and more assistance to the driver – with the future aim of the car being able to take complete control. But there is more to it than that: "We want to make cars better drivers than people, and in this way to increase road safety. In other words, technology has to work more reliably than people," says the Bosch management board member Harald Kroeger. That presents a major challenge, particularly in terms of surround sensing. Only if it knows exactly, and at all times, what is going on around it can an automated vehicle choose the right, and above all safe, driving strategy. Bosch uses various technologies for surround sensing, including ultrasound, radar, and video. When it comes to structure and function, cameras come closest to the human eye, which is why they will be such invaluable assets for automated driving, and indeed why they already play a key role in driver assistance. Bosch has now succeeded in taking automotive camera technology to a new level. This new Bosch technology is set to debut in vehicles in 2019. The combination of its unique multi-path approach and artificial intelligence (AI) for object recognition will make surround sensing far more reliable, and road traffic safer. Bosch aims to be the market leader, and the measure of all things in camera technology. We want to make cars better drivers than people, and in this way to increase road safety. In other words, technology has to work more reliably than people....Bosch management board member Harald Kroeger Human drivers: looking but failing to see Cars with driver assistance, automatic emergency braking systems, and automated driving capability must be able to see all objects in their surroundings. On top of that, they must be able to detect in a flash if an object is relevant for their driving strategy. And just as quickly, they have to determine what their reaction to relevant objects should be. Should they brake, swerve, or continue on their path? Unlike the human eye, the new Bosch MPC3 mono video camera has been optimized to handle such decisions. For humans, looking is one thing, but actually recognizing what our eyes see is another matter. Our eyes may be marvels of nature, but we have our weaknesses when it comes to visual perception. Just because we see something does not mean that we recognize and understand it. Many drivers who are involved in accidents say that they had been looking in the right direction but failed to spot the other party. It is estimated that up to 50 percent of road traffic collisions are attributable to this phenomenon. The new Bosch camera is superior to the human eye in this respect, not least because it never gets tired, and works just as well after hours of driving as during the first kilometer. Bosch technology makes new and improved driver assistance systems possible The new technology’s great strength lies in its robust object recognition, enabled by Bosch’s multi-path approach. This also makes use of artificial intelligence. For example, Bosch engineers have taught the camera to reliably detect if the edge of the road is passable, even in the absence of road markings. This camera intelligence is based on Bosch know-how and integrated into a chip, known as V3H, made by the Japanese company Renesas. It can also improve legacy driver assistance systems and extend their application range. For instance, it could enhance automatic emergency braking systems to prevent vehicles hitting various types of animals. It could also make emergency braking more reliable, since the camera can recognize pedestrians even when they are partially concealed. The Bosch innovation also improves road-sign recognition. The new Bosch camera features optical character recognition that reliably reads text and numbers on road signs, and presents this information to the driver on a dashboard display. The camera with AI won an award in a company-internal innovation contest.

23.07.2019

Press release

Connected mobility

World first: Bosch and Daimler obtain approval for driverless parking without hu ...

Stuttgart, Germany – Bosch and Daimler have reached a milestone on the way to automated driving: the two companies have now obtained approval from the relevant authorities in Baden-Württemberg for their automated parking system in the Mercedes-Benz Museum parking garage in Stuttgart. The automated valet parking service is accessed via a smartphone app and requires no safety driver. This makes it the world’s first fully automated driverless SAE Level 4 1 parking function to be officially approved for everyday use. This decision by the authorities shows that innovations like automated valet parking are possible in Germany first. ...Dr. Markus Heyn, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH “This decision by the authorities shows that innovations like automated valet parking are possible in Germany first,” says Dr. Markus Heyn, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH. “Driverless driving and parking are important building blocks for tomorrow’s mobility. The automated parking system shows just how far we have already progressed along this development path.” “This approval from the Baden-Württemberg authorities sets a precedent for obtaining approval in the future for the parking service in parking garages around the world,” says Dr. Michael Hafner, the head of drive technologies and automated driving at Daimler AG. “As a pioneer in automated driving, our project paves the way for automated valet parking to go into mass production in the future.” Driverless driving and parking are important building blocks for tomorrow’s mobility. The automated parking system shows just how far we have already progressed along this development path....Dr. Markus Heyn, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH Playing it safe: two partners with a common objective From the very beginning, Bosch and Daimler’s top priority for the driverless parking service was safety. Since there is as yet no official approval process for automated driving functions that do not require a driver, the local authorities – the Stuttgart regional administrative authority and the state of Baden-Württemberg’s transportation ministry – oversaw the project along with experts from the German technical inspection service TÜV Rheinland from the outset. Their aim was to assess the operating safety of the automotive and parking-garage technology. The result is a comprehensive safety concept with appropriate testing and approval criteria that can be applied beyond this pilot project. In the concept, the developers defined how the driverless vehicle detects pedestrians and other cars in its path and reliably comes to a halt when it encounters an obstacle. They also set up secure communications between all system components and took steps to ensure the reliable activation of the parking maneuver. The technology behind driverless parking Drive in to the parking garage, get out, and send the car to a parking space just by tapping on a smartphone screen – automated valet parking has no need for a driver. Once the driver has left the parking garage to go about their business, the car drives itself to an assigned space and parks. Later, the car returns to the drop-off point in exactly the same way. This process relies on the interplay between the intelligent parking garage infrastructure supplied by Bosch and Mercedes-Benz automotive technology. Bosch sensors in the parking garage monitor the driving corridor and its surroundings and provide the information needed to guide the vehicle. The technology in the car converts the commands from the infrastructure into driving maneuvers. This way, cars can even drive themselves up and down ramps to move between stories in the parking garage. If the infrastructure sensors detect an obstacle, the vehicle stops immediately. Project milestones Bosch and Daimler started developing fully automated driverless parking in 2015, and in the summer of 2017, their pilot solution in the Mercedes-Benz Museum parking garage in Stuttgart reached an important milestone: automated valet parking in real conditions, with and without drivers at the wheel, was presented to the public for the first time. This premiere was followed by an intensive testing and start-up phase. Starting in 2018, museum visitors could use the parking service live, accompanied by trained safety personnel, and share their experience. One aspect of the pilot project involved testing lighting concepts on the vehicles. Turquoise lighting indicates that a vehicle is in automated driving mode and informs passers-by and other road users that the vehicle is driving itself. The insights from these tests are reflected in the recently issued SAE standard 3134. Obtaining final approval from the authorities is a further major milestone for Bosch and Daimler: soon, interested parties will be able to experience the innovative valet parking service live in daily operation in the Mercedes-Benz Museum parking garage without additional supervision from a safety driver.

17.04.2019

Press release

Connected mobility

Commercial vehicle innovation enabler: Bosch brings advanced solutions to the ne ...

Scottsdale, Arizona – Nikola Motor Company showcased its hydrogen-electric powered semi-truck, the Nikola Two, live in action for the first time to the general public at its Nikola World event. Bosch technology and expertise helped Nikola to realize the fully functional Nikola Two hydrogen-electric truck with industry-ready heavy-duty truck components and systems. The technology and system approach is adaptable for use in Nikola’s full line of vehicles, including the Nikola One Sleeper Cab and the Nikola Tre, a hydrogen-electric truck for European markets. Bosch has been our innovation partner to help make our vision a reality....Trevor Milton, Nikola founder and CEO The Nikola trucks feature innovations in automation, connectivity and electrification enabled with Bosch’s assistance. The supplier of technology and services offers solutions for commercial vehicles to improve efficiency and safety in logistics. To enable the distinctive Nikola approach, engineering teams from Bosch locations in the United States and Germany contributed more than 220,000 hours into the development of the Nikola trucks. “This has been a two-and-a-half year cooperation targeted at implementing advanced technology into a totally new and unique approach to trucking with the highest levels of engineering excellence,” said Jason Roycht, vice president and regional business unit leader, Commercial Vehicles & Off-Road for Bosch in North America. “We’ve learned from each other and together pushed ourselves to achieve what seemed to everyone else to be impossible. The Nikola Two is not just a simple evolution of today’s heavy duty truck. It’s a revolution in both sophisticated control and design.” “Bosch has been our innovation partner to help make our vision a reality,” said Trevor Milton, founder and CEO of Nikola Motor Company. “We look for partners who provide us expertise and world-class solutions, but also ones that are willing to dream alongside us.” This has been a two-and-a-half year cooperation targeted at implementing advanced technology into a totally new and unique approach to trucking with the highest levels of engineering excellence....Jason Roycht, vice president and regional business unit leader, Commercial Vehicles & Off-Road for Bosch in North America The brain of the future – engineered by Nikola and Bosch The Nikola truck is more than just a fuel cell vehicle; it’s a rolling super computer. Bosch systems, software and engineering expertise have helped Nikola to build the brains of its Nikola Two super truck. One of the key elements of Nikola’s advanced system is the Bosch Vehicle Control Unit (VCU) , which provides higher computing power for advanced functions while reducing the number of standalone units. The VCU enables future innovations by providing a scalable platform for the highly complex electric/electronic (E/E) architecture needed to support the advanced features of the Nikola truck. The Nikola family of trucks will be connected with an advanced and secure operating system that provides real-time, over-the-air updates and monitoring. The commercial vehicle powertrain reimagined The essence of the Nikola truck lineup is a new commercial vehicle powertrain achieved thanks to a development partnership between Nikola and Bosch. The two organizations have reimagined the powertrain – and the vehicle chassis integrated together with it – from the ground up. The fuel-cell system designed to deliver benchmark vehicle range was custom-designed together by Nikola and Bosch. The two organizations also worked in tandem to develop the first true dual-motor commercial-vehicle eAxle for a long-haul truck. The eAxle features Bosch rotors and stators, and Bosch has also contributed functional safety efforts throughout the truck. Mirrorless and keyless - Bosch technology pervades the Nikola trucks Bosch technology is also prevalent in other areas of the Nikola trucks. Nikola’s vehicles will be missing one standard feature of previous class-8 trucks: side mirrors. In the place of the conventional main and wide-angle mirrors is a camera system, known as Mirror Cam System , which offers drivers a digital side and rear view from the truck cab. Two cameras, fitted left and right in place of traditional mirrors, feed real-time images to high-resolution displays mounted inside the cab. The system, developed by Bosch and Mekra Lang, adjusts the monitor display to match the driving situation digitally. It captures both rear-view fields of vision of a CV mirror with just one camera lens on each side of the vehicle cab. In addition to increasing safety, compact digital cameras instead of mirrors offer aerodynamic advantages as the cameras are considerably smaller than mirrors and therefore reduce drag. Fleet operators will be able to digitally manage vehicle keys for the Nikola trucks in their fleet thanks to the Perfectly Keyless system from Bosch. Freight and commercial vehicle rental companies can use a smartphone app to give their drivers access to specific fleet vehicles and to flexibly manage who has access and when. Sensors on the Nikola vehicles will connect with an app on a driver’s smartphone so that when the driver approaches the vehicle, Perfectly Keyless recognizes the smartphone, identifies the unique security key assigned to the driver’s phone, and unlocks the door. As soon as the driver moves away from the truck again, the vehicle is automatically securely locked. Nikola’s trucks are equipped for driver assistance and future automation thanks in part to the Bosch Servotwi n electrohydraulic steering system. The steering system will enable driver assistance systems that actively support the driver to enhance driving comfort and improve safety. On the Nikola vehicles, the Servotwin will help to enable features such as lane-keeping assistance, side-wind compensation and traffic jam assist. The system also provides a key building block for the rollout of automated features in the future.

20.02.2019

Press release

Automated mobility

More midsize cars than premium models in Germany feature parking assistants as s ...

Stuttgart, Germany – Remote parking, automatic lane-keeping support, drowsiness detection: these are just some of the many features that buyers of new cars no longer want to do without. Installation rates of driver assistance systems are rising steadily. “More and more car buyers want a vehicle that anticipates and even intervenes in driving maneuvers,” says Dr. Dirk Hoheisel, member of the Bosch board of management. Surprisingly, it’s not premium vehicles that most frequently feature smart parking as standard equipment. Far from it: when it comes to such systems, compact and midsize cars are better equipped. These are the findings from a Bosch evaluation of the 2017 statistics on newly registered cars. Whether proximity alarms, parking assists, or reversing cameras, 55 percent of newly registered compact and midsize cars in Germany come equipped with at least one parking assistance system as standard. In contrast, this figure is only about 25 percent for premium vehicles. Overall, 45 percent of newly registered cars across all vehicle classes have at least one parking assistance system fitted as standard. More and more car buyers want a vehicle that anticipates and even intervenes in driving maneuvers....Dr. Dirk Hoheisel, member of the Bosch board of management EU plans to mandate emergency braking assistants The analysis shows that parking assistance systems top the list of desired features in Germany, followed by automatic emergency braking systems. When a rear-end collision is imminent, these systems help either avoid it or mitigate its consequences. “Driver assistance systems aren’t just cool gadgets that make driving more convenient – they can save lives,” Hoheisel says. For that reason, the European Union is currently preparing legislation to mandate the installation of emergency braking systems. This is expected to mean that all new vehicle models will have to have such a system on board starting in 2022. The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, which is part of the UNECE, has drawn up a regulation that creates the conditions for this. The forum recommends that only passenger cars featuring an emergency braking system should be marketed in the EU and other countries in the future. The UN Economic Commission for Europe estimates that emergency braking assistants could save 1,000 lives a year in the EU. Of all the new cars registered in Germany in 2017, 54 percent were fitted with such an emergency braking system, up from just 38 percent in 2016. The evaluation of statistics on newly registered cars from 2017 also revealed that, in addition to parking and braking assistance systems, two others are increasingly finding acceptance: drowsiness detection and lane-keeping functions. Nearly half of all new cars can detect when the driver is drowsy, and more than one in three cars comes equipped with at least one lane-keeping system. Furthermore, just under one-fourth of cars feature adaptive cruise control (ACC), and 9 percent of newly registered cars in Germany already have a partly automated traffic jam assist system. This helps drivers relax in congested traffic by instructing the car to automatically follow the vehicle in front. It also takes control of starting and accelerating, and brakes and steers within its lane. Driver assistance systems aren’t just cool gadgets that make driving more convenient – they can save lives....Dr. Dirk Hoheisel, member of the Bosch board of management Driver assistance systems becoming ever more popular in Europe However, it is not only German car buyers who are increasingly relying on electronic assistants that make driving safer and more convenient; parking assistants and automatic emergency braking systems are increasingly making inroads in other European countries as well. For example, parking assistants are particularly popular in France: they feature in 85 percent of cars there, the highest share of such systems. Bottom of the list is Italy, with 44 percent. With regard to automatic emergency braking systems, Belgium and Germany are tied at 54 percent, while 45 percent of new cars in the Netherlands are fitted with such a system. By contrast, the share in Italy is 30 percent, and in Russia just 6 percent to date. Driver assistance systems keep an eye on complex situations and help avoid accidents or even save lives. This is why Bosch is continuing to develop an ever expanding range of driver assistance systems that protect road users and make life easier for drivers. And by systematically refining driver assistance systems, Bosch is also creating the technical basis for the automated driving of the future. With this expertise, the company is already one of today’s innovation leaders in many areas that are essential for automated driving: surround sensors, artificial intelligence, and the electronic control of brakes, powertrain, and steering. Bosch evaluation based on vehicle registration statistics for 2017 Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) reported that the country registered 3.44 million new cars in 2017. Working with data from the market analyst JATO Dynamics, Bosch looked to see which driver assistance systems featured in new cars in Germany, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Russia. Bosch has been analyzing the acceptance of driver assistance systems since 2013.

07.01.2019

Press release

Smart Home

CES 2019: Bosch extends its position as a leading IoT company

Las Vegas, NV – More and more, the internet of things (IoT) is changing our world. At CES 2019 in Las Vegas, Bosch is showing what it is already capable of today. From a concept for a shuttle vehicle that makes a new kind of mobility tangible, to fridges with connectivity that give advice on food storage, to smart lawn mowers that learn by doing – the spectrum of solutions Bosch is presenting at the world’s largest consumer electronics show is huge. “Bosch recognized the huge opportunities of the IoT early on. We have been actively shaping the connected world for nearly ten years now,” says the Bosch board of management member Dr. Markus Heyn. “Today, we are a leading IoT company. Step by step, we have extended our software and IT expertise.” Using its own IoT cloud, the company has already carried out more than 270 projects in field such as mobility, smart homes, smart cities, and agriculture. The number of sensors and devices connected over the Bosch IoT Suite has risen nearly 40 percent since last year, and now stands at 8.5 million.One of the keys to further growth and new business opportunities on the internet of things is artificial intelligence (AI). This is also a field in which Bosch is playing a decisive part in driving developments. “We will best be able to unlock the potential of the IoT if we combine it with AI, and take our IoT and AI activities forward in parallel,” Heyn says. In his view, the relationship between the two fields is complementary: “The IoT needs intelligence. The use of connected things to gather data can be a decisive boost for the development of AI. It is only through AI that connected things become intelligent and learn to draw their own conclusions. Above all, we aim to achieve concrete improvements in people’s real, everyday lives – things such as more time, more security, more efficiency, and more convenience.” Here, Heyn cites the example of video-based fire detection: by using intelligent image analysis, security cameras are able to identify fires within a few seconds, even before the system’s sensors detect heat and smoke. In this way, fires can be detected considerably earlier than with conventional fire or smoke alarm systems. This saves valuable minutes in which lives can be saved.A second key to success on the path to the IoT age is partnerships. Here, Bosch is opting for a mix of traditional and new players. The alliance recently agreed with the Canadian platform provider Mojio has already resulted in the first integrated IoT platform for connected vehicles: in the event of an accident, a special Bosch algorithm can identify where and when the accident happened, and how severe it is. Via the Mojio cloud, the data are transmitted without any delay to the Bosch emergency service center, which automatically sends an emergency call to local rescue services. At the same time, a message is sent to a predetermined list of recipients, either as a text message or via the Mojio app. “Together with Mojio, we are connecting vehicles directly with the cloud. This means rescue services can get to the scene of an accident even faster than before,” says Mike Mansuetti, the president of Bosch North America. From the middle of next year, the IoT emergency solution will be available for nearly a million drivers in North America and Europe. IoT on the roads: Bosch presents connected mobility of the future With the concept shuttle vehicle it developed in-house, Bosch is celebrating a world first at CES. In this vehicle, the company is its presenting solutions for the automation, connectivity, and electrification of vehicles, and is giving visitors the chance to experience at first hand a new kind of mobility: driverless shuttles, which will soon be a feature on the streets of the world’s cities. “This will pay into our vision of mobility that is as emissions-free, accident-free, and stress-free as possible,” Heyn says. For shuttle-based mobility such as this, Bosch will be supplying not only components and systems, but also a complete range of mobility services, such as reservation, sharing, and connectivity platforms, as well as parking and recharging services. Bosch believes that such connected services are essential for the shuttle-based mobility of the future. The forecast market volume for these services is also high: while it was 47 billion euros in 2017, it is estimated that it will be as much as 140 billion euros by 2022 (source: PwC). Bosch also wants to have a share in this, and aims for significant double-digit growth with the solutions it offers. For Heyn, there is no doubt: “In the future, every vehicle on the road will make use of Bosch digital services. We will consolidate them into a smart, seamlessly connected ecosystem.”One of the final obstacles for putting shuttle-based mobility into practice is the automation of vehicles in complex urban environments. Here, Bosch believes partnerships are the answer: In the second half of this year, San José in California’s Silicon Valley is set to become the pilot city for testing a fully automated, driverless ridesharing service provided by Bosch and Daimler. The three parties have already signed a letter of intent to this effect. With their development alliance, Bosch and Daimler want to improve urban traffic flows, enhance road safety, and provide an important building block for the traffic of the future. Their aim is to develop a driving system for fully automated driverless driving (SAE level 4/5) that is ready for production by the beginning of the next decade. IoT in the home: connected appliances make home owners’ lives noticeably easier It’s not just on the roads that connected products and services that make user’s lives easier are in demand. “We’re working on the idea of a connected home, and on appliances that think autonomously and understand what users want,” Heyn says. At CES, for example, the company is presenting a new function for web-enabled fridges that can recognize types of food and provide recommendations on storage. The interior camera automatically recognizes some 60 kinds of fruits and vegetables and suggests the ideal place to store them by means of an app. As a result, food is stored in the best possible way, stays fresh for longer, and doesn’t have to be thrown away so often. Another new development is the PAI projector, which can project a virtual user interface onto a kitchen counter top. An integrated 3D sensor captures any hand movements, allowing touch-screen operation of the interface. In this way, users can conveniently call up recipes online and make phone calls over the internet while they are cooking and baking. Designed especially for the kitchen environment, PAI does not have to be used with as much care as a smartphone or tablet. Even with sticky fingers, the projector can still be controlled perfectly. PAI is set to debut in China in February 2019, to be followed by market launch in the United States. Bosch is also presenting the Indego S+, its new robot lawn mower with internet connectivity, at CES. It is one of the first robot lawn mowers in the market to offer voice control by Amazon Alexa. It is also the only robot lawn mower that can use weather forecasts on the web to automatically decide when best to mow the lawn again. Bosch is using artificial intelligence to improve the way its robot lawn mower recognizes obstacles on the lawn by evaluating data such as motor flow, acceleration, motor speed, and direction. “We are using AI to make lawn care even easier and more convenient. Our vision is an Indego that adapts to its garden in order to mow the lawn perfectly every time,” Heyn says. IoT #LikeABosch: Bosch launches digital IoT campaign Bosch is also using CES 2019 to premiere its new IoT image campaign. The main plank of the campaign is a hip-hop video clip featuring a protagonist who is a savvy IoT user. Bosch is entering new territory with its “Like a Bosch” campaign; the decidedly different approach and tone marks a new departure for the company, which was founded in 1886.This PR move capitalizes on a rash of “like a boss” videos and memes that have gone viral on the internet, attracting tens of millions of clicks. These videos feature everyday people who stage bizarre stunts or find their way out of predicaments with technical finesse. The IoT image campaign changes a few letters in order to put a fresh spin on this internet phenomenon. The protagonist in the Bosch video is a young man who is always on top of things, thanks to connected solutions from Bosch. Smartphone in hand, he operates his car, lawn mower, or coffee machine in a cool, smart, and confident way – he’s in charge of things “like a Bosch.”

08.11.2018

Press release

Automated mobility

Bosch and Daimler: San José targeted to become pilot city for an automated on-de ...

Stuttgart/San José – Located on the southern shore of San Francisco Bay in Silicon Valley, and with more than one million inhabitants, San José is the third biggest city in California. It is planned to be the pilot city for trials, targeted to begin during the second half of 2019, of the highly and fully automated driving (SAE Level 4/5) on-demand ride-hailing service recently announced by Bosch and Daimler. The three parties have signed a memorandum of understanding to pursue and finalize this activity. Using automated Mercedes-Benz S-Class vehicles, Bosch and Daimler propose to offer the service to a selected user community in the San Carlos/Stevens Creek corridor between downtown and west San José. With its population expected to grow 40 percent in the next two decades, the metropolitan area faces growing transportation challenges. Moreover, San José wants to prepare itself for a future in which autonomous cars hit the streets.“The pilot project is an opportunity to explore how autonomous vehicles can help us better meet future transportation needs,” says Sam Liccardo, mayor of San José. “Since many years we consequently push autonomous driving. With this pilot we will generate valuable insights to connect fully automated vehicles in the best way with users of future mobility services,” says Dr. Michael Hafner, Vice President Drive Technologies and Automated Driving at Daimler AG. “We have to rethink urban transportation. Automated driving will help us complete the picture of future urban traffic,” says Dr. Stephan Hönle, senior vice president of the Automated Driving business unit at Robert Bosch GmbH. The on-demand ride-hailing service app operated by Daimler Mobility Services will demonstrate how mobility services such as car sharing (car2go), ride-hailing (mytaxi), and multi-modal platforms (moovel) can be intelligently connected. The test operation will provide information about how highly and fully automated vehicles can be integrated into a multi-modal transportation network. The intent is to provide a seamless digital experience, in which a selected user community will have the opportunity to hail a self-driving car, monitored by a safety driver, from a designated pick-up location and drive automatically to their destination. Automated vehicles make urban mobility more attractive With their joint development work on highly and fully automated driving (SAE level 4/5) in urban environments, Bosch and Daimler aim to improve the flow of traffic in cities, enhance road safety, and provide an important building block for the way traffic will work in the future. Among other things, the technology will boost the attraction of car sharing. Without compromising driving safety, it will allow people to make the best possible use of the time they spend in their vehicles, and open up new mobility opportunities for people without a driver’s license. Bosch and Daimler associates share the same office space Bosch and Daimler associates involved in the development project work together in teams in two regions: in the greater Stuttgart area in Germany and, in the United States, around Sunnyvale in Silicon Valley between San José and San Francisco. Since they share the same office space, rapid communication across working disciplines is ensured, and decision-making paths are short. At the same time, they can draw on the combined know-how of their colleagues in the parent companies. The two companies’ associates are jointly developing the concepts and algorithms for the highly and fully automated drive system. Daimler’s task is to bring the drive system into the car. The company is providing the necessary development vehicles, test facilities, and vehicles for the test fleet. Bosch is responsible for the components specified during the development work, such as sensors, actuators, and control units. For test purposes, Bosch and Daimler use their laboratories and test rigs, plus their respective test sites in Germany. Since obtaining its Autonomous Vehicle Testing Permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles in 2014, Mercedes-Benz has been testing automated vehicles in the Sunnyvale/California region. And since 2016, it has had similar approval for the greater Stuttgart area in Germany. In early 2013, Bosch was the world’s first automotive supplier to test automated driving (SAE level 3) on public roads in Germany and the United States.

06.11.2018

Presskit

Connected mobility

Bosch at the EICMA 2018