October 27, 2021
I believe we’re witnessing the dawn of a remarkable new era. Ever since the development of the first steam-powered automobile, vehicles have been all about the hardware. But the development of autonomous driving (AD) is transforming the global automotive industry — cars, trucks, buses and other vehicles are about to become digital transportation platforms.
The move toward full autonomy represents a massive challenge, not least because the computational muscle needed to support the initiative is likely to be around 1000x that required by today’s advanced vehicles.
Accelerating development of autonomous driving functions
DXC Technology has been working closely with global AD innovation leaders for quite some time, introducing DXC Robotic Drive services to solve the most significant challenges in AD development. Our expert teams provide the necessary IT, data and AI expertise and – with our acquisition of Luxoft, a DXC Technology company, and Luxoft's acquisition of CMORE – a deep understanding of automotive in-car software development architecture.
DXC Robotic Drive is one of the largest industry-ready, petabyte-scale development platforms. Our data-driven services de-risk and accelerate the development, testing and validation of AD and Advanced Driving Support System (ADAS) capabilities, to support Level 2 plus to Level 5 development. Leading automotive OEMs and Tier1s have based their AD development on this innovation.
Our technology and cloud partners run our Robotic Drive services in the cloud and on premise, enabling clients to easily scale their data, AI training and simulation usage up and down.
Engaging at the Robotic Drive Innovation Lab
At our Robotic Drive Innovation Lab — which exists as a center in southern Germany and on the cloud — we familiarize our customers and partners with the toolchains involved in scalable autonomous driving development. They experience our open services, getting to know how they can support their decision-making and next moves.
The uniqueness of the Robotic Drive Innovation Lab lies in its data-driven, real-world sized AD development environment. In this environment, comprehensive demonstrations of realistic challenges generated by automation and scaling requirements for AD workloads are made touchable. Leveraging the technical excellence of our autonomous driving team, we help customers sketch and proof credible custom solutions — even piloting them with the customer’s applications and toolchain.
DXC Robotic Drive in action
Automotive technology company Continental is now using DXC Robotic Drive services for the data ingest service. BU ADAS Gunther Rädler told us he was deeply impressed by our AD-specific knowledge and expertise, our data-driven development services and the flexibility we provide with our Innovation Lab approach.
We use the Lab ourselves for differentiating IP development for the next–generation autonomous driving development platform.
Groundbreaking autonomous driving technology
Having a practical and substantial backdrop for both public cloud and on premise means that customers and partners can test AD development with their own data, applications and tooling in conducive surroundings. Engineering teams are able to benchmark third-party technology, experiencing all the DXC Robotic Drive elements.
To summarize, we offer:
- A real-world sized autonomous driving development platform that allows for all relevant AD workloads both in public cloud and on premise
- A connected garage parking place to connect your vehicles and work with your data
- The opportunity to integrate your applications
- Maximum collaboration via virtual AD development teams
- Workshops and technology benchmarking
- Joint innovation and minimum viable product (MVP) progression
- Access to our top architects, engineers and developers
At our dedicated strategy workshops, we discuss our approach to AD development and how the Robotic Drive Innovation Lab can support your journey, sharing with you best practices and a rich set of client demos. You can combine your visit to the Robotic Drive Innovation Lab with a stop at our nearby Automotive Center of Excellence to explore automotive use cases beyond AD.
About the author
Martin Eichhorn is product manager of DXC Robotic Drive. He joined DXC in 2011 and worked as client principal with major automotive clients on many analytics and digital transformation challenges. In 2014, he took responsibility for the first AD development client programs that, ultimately, led to the development of the DXC Robotic Drive capability. Before joining DXC, Martin worked for over 16 years in the automotive industry on vehicle diagnostics, software and testing in development, manufacturing and aftersales with virtually every European OEM.