Fiat Chrysler to jointly develop autonomous driving platform with BMW, Intel and Mobileye
BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) to work collectively towards the development of a state-of-the-art autonomous driving platform, which is intended to eventually serve as the base for every forthcoming Advanced Driver Assistance System on a global stage.
The partners emphasise on benefiting from FCA's technical resources and expertise, as well as its comparatively higher sales volumes, bigger dealer network and experience in North America, which are the key assets FCA will bring to the table.
BMW, Intel and Mobileye have been developing the platform since the past year. After Delphi, FCA is the second partner and the first automaker to join the alliance. The focus of the platform is mainly on scalability and flexibility. The platform will support various degrees of autonomy ranging from Level 3 (Conditional Driver Automation) to Level 4 (Full Driver automation). It will also give the manufacturer room to employ the system in their design without any hindrance. This, BMW believes, will enable them to maintain their unique identity without having to compromise on any of the autonomous driving benefits.
The cooperation aims at deploying 40 autonomous test vehicles on the roads by the end of this year. It also seeks to be benefited by the data and learning from the current 100 Level 4 test vehicle fleet of the Intel-Mobileye merger.
Along with stressing on attributes like scalability, flexibility and modularity right from the beginning, the partners have been inviting and encouraging automakers and technology suppliers to join them in adopting this autonomous driving platform in an effort to create an industry-wide solution.