Audi, Applied Intuition Team to Develop Self-Driving Tech

Automaker Audi has agreed a deal with U.S. company Applied Intuition to jointly develop automated driving (AD) systems.

The German firm – part of the Volkswagen Group – will work with the Silicon Valley-based software supplier on tech that will ultimately be utilized on Audi cars.

According to a statement issued by the pair to mark the agreement, the intent is to create a unified solution that “enables the development, validation, type approval and deployment of (AD) systems.”

The partnership aims to address some of the specific pain points of AD development, in particular the slow rate of progress and the high costs associated with it.

It will do so by using Applied’s end-to-end simulation and data management solutions, supported by Audi’s scenario-based systems engineering experience, to create a solution that meets current and future regulatory requirements.

And it’s claimed that the solution will be applicable across different AD stacks throughout the Audi portfolio, providing automated functionality that delivers industry-leading safety in an expanded Operational Design Domain. 

The framework will be made available to other automakers in the future.

With surveys showing that public trust in autonomous vehicles is still lagging following a wave of negative publicity caused by recent high-profile incidents, the companies acknowledge safety is a priority. 

Related:AAA Survey Finds Drivers Don’t Trust Self-Driving Vehicles

“Applied Intuition and Audi’s joint solution is critical to ensuring AD software safety,” said Qasar Younis, CEO of Applied. “With unified applications, a data-driven approach, automated testing, and cloud-based collaboration, our unified framework allows Audi to validate, certify, and bring next-generation AD systems to market faster.”

Dr Gero Kempf, executive vice president for Audi, added: “In compliance with AD regulations, Applied Intuition’s solution allows us to highly automate our scenario-based, data-driven engineering workflows and adapt jointly developed applications as white-box solutions for the overall management of high-performance, safety-critical AD systems.”

The Audi partnership is the second deal Applied has sealed with a Volkswagen Group company in the space of a month. In late March, it confirmed it was teaming with Porsche to develop vehicle software.

That partnership was announced just days after the company closed a funding round that generated $250 million, with Porsche confirmed as one of the investors.

Audi has yet to launch any production model with Level 3 “hands off eyes off” automated functionality, in contrast with key rival Mercedes, which offers its L3 Drive Pilot package on select models in California and Nevada, plus Germany. Another of Audi’s key competitors, BMW, is also set to launch L3 tech in its home market.

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