Automaker giant Continental has joined the BMW, Intel and Mobileye partnership as a system integrator in the race to deliver autonomous driving cars.
Continental’s role will be to commercialise the new platform that the three companies plan to deliver for fully automated driving. The platform will also be sold to other manufacturers in order to deliver the solutions to the market quicker.
BMW, Intel and Mobileye joined hands last year in plans to develop autonomous vehicles. Early this year a partnership was formed and it was confirmed that 40 test vehicles will be on the road by Q2 2017.
The partnership sees BMW focusing on the driving control and dynamics, Intel offering AI, deep learning and simulation infrastructure, while Mobileye contributes its EyeQ5 computer vision processor.
Since the partnership was formed, US parts maker Delphi Automotive joined BMW, Intel and Mobileye to assist in the production of the self-driving vehicles, which are expected to be completed by 2021.
Read more: Intel, BMW self-driving cars to hit the roads in 2017
By joining the collaboration, Continental will deliver function development and integration of automated systems, such as driver monitoring and motion control. This will be combined with simulation and validation of all added functions.
Frank Jourdan, Member of the Executive Board of Continental AG and Head of the Chassis & Safety Division.
Frank Jourdan, Executive Board member, Continental AG said: “We have already had very good experience in working with the BMW Group through jointly successfully completed development and series projects.
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“Contributing development and integration for the partnership is a recognition of our extensive competence in the field of automated driving. The cooperation with the core partners involved presents the unique opportunity to drive ahead and get this technology of the future to our roads more quickly.”
Continental is already familiar with the core requirements of autonomous driving, as it has been testing automated driving on public roads in Japan since 2014.
Klaus Frohlich, Member of Board of Management for Development, BMW AG said: “Every new Tier One partner brings us a step closer to our goal: We intend to bring safe autonomous driving to series production by 2021 and actively shape this technology.
“With our non-exclusive approach to this technology of the future we will deliver a safe, fast and cost-efficient solution that is highly attractive also for other manufacturers.”
