Efficient Development of High-Quality Software as a Decisive Success Factor
A new research project continues the long-standing collaboration on automotive software development between Mercedes-Benz AG, Vector Informatik GmbH and Reutlingen University.
Software is already significantly changing the automotive industry. It is increasingly becoming a differentiating factor and a key technology for the customer experience of the future in the megatrends of connectivity, autonomous driving and electrification, all of which are based on innovative software technologies. The efficient development of high-quality software is thus becoming a decisive success factor. The procedures for developing automotive software are trying to keep pace with the resulting complexity. The consequence, however, is that the methods and software development tools are also becoming more complex. What is needed are new agile development methods and technological aids - in the form of software tools, but also new software architecture concepts - to improve development processes.
This is where the joint project between Mercedes-Benz AG, Vector Informatik GmbH and Reutlingen University comes in. In recent years, development methods and software architecture concepts have become established that support the development of classic information technology (IT) systems - such as those we use as a matter of course in everyday life, e.g., for search queries or ordering processes using smartphones. The development method Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) and the architecture concept Microservice are worth mentioning at this point. The central question is how the above concepts from the classical world of IT can be integrated into the development of (deeply) embedded software in vehicles - with their very special requirements, e.g., for real-time, functional safety, and highly limited resources - and which adaptations or additions are necessary to achieve added value for automotive software development.
Dr. Ralf Belschner, Team Lead MB.OS Base Layer Classic: "On the way to "Lead in Car Software", we at Mercedes-Benz are developing our own operating system MB.OS together with our strategic partner Vector. For this, we need to have a high level of state-of-the-art software expertise in-house and are interested in significantly accelerating the development and integration processes for the broadband software base layer while reducing complexity." And Ralf Schneider, Team Lead MB.OS Base Layer Adaptive, adds: "In the area of high computing platforms, there is the additional challenge in the development of the MB.OS Base Layer that classic (POSIX-based) development environments from the IT area have to be married with the automotive standards (AUTOSAR) and their development methodologies. To reconcile both worlds while accelerating traditional development processes, we need a holistic development and integration environment based on the latest IT standards."
The automotive industry is jointly pursuing the goal of the Software Defined Vehicle, whose functions are largely determined by software. For Dr. Marc Weber, Manager Solution Management at Vector, one of the biggest challenges in implementation is mastering the increasing software complexity. "This concerns both the ECU software itself and the associated development process. Vector sees itself as a "simplifier" and would like to provide vehicle manufacturers and suppliers with the best possible support on their way to the Software Defined Vehicle. We are looking forward to working together with Mercedes-Benz AG and Reutlingen University on relevant issues and to further developing our embedded software, tools and solutions on the basis of the results."
For Professor Dr. Jens Weiland, this collaboration means the opportunity to work on the most current issues in the automotive industry in order to further improve the development of highly complex automotive software. "For our students, this means obtaining and building knowledge for which, incidentally, there is also a great need in other industries where highly complex mechatronic systems are developed," Professor Weiland added.
The joint project continues a long-standing collaboration between Reutlingen University, Mercedes-Benz AG and Vector. It finances two scientific employees and two research assistants over a period of three years and enables students to participate in this extremely promising field of innovation.