The BMW Group has extended its partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), selecting the tech giant’s cloud computing subsidiary as its preferred cloud provider for its future automated driving platform. Building on its existing connected car data partnership with AWS, the OEM will utilize AWS software and platforms to support the development of new ADAS for its Neue Klasse generation of vehicles, which is set to launch in 2025.
Leveraging a Cloud Data Hub that it already has on AWS, BMW will develop a new cloud-based system that will utilize AWS compute, generative AI, IoT, machine learning and data storage capabilities to accelerate the delivery of new automated vehicles. BMW has said that developing its new ADAS platform on AWS will allow its engineers to respond to consumer demands more quickly, with this cloud-enabled efficiency supporting the development of new features for Neue Klasse vehicles and enhancing the overall user experience.
BMW will further utilize AWS’ services to scale its capacity to handle the increased creation and usage of data involved in the development of new automated driving features. With the group’s vehicles generating increasing amounts of data as it deploys more ADAS, BMW’s engineering teams will look to analyze and utilize this data to develop new ADAS – such as lane departure assist, automated lane change, or hands-free driving features more quickly.
In a similar fashion, AWS services will power BMW’s scalable automated driving platform based on a common reference architecture which will accelerate the development cycle and broaden it across BMW models. Here, the platform provides a framework that can process, catalog and store real-time driving data in the Amazon Simple Storage Service. With the Amazon SageMaker machine-learning platform, BMW’s engineers and data scientists can then search, identify, and visualize relevant driving scenarios to develop and train new AI models – thereby supporting the development and refinement of new autonomous driving functions. At the same time, the group’s engineers will be able to develop large-scale simulations that use AWS compute instances for verification, allowing it to test and validate new software versions more efficiently – ensuring the safety of the final system and reducing its time-to-market.
In addition to its extended partnership with AWS, the BMW Group announced a similar collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies. Through it, the companies will co-develop next-generation automated driving systems based on Snapdragon Ride – Qualcomm’s open, modular, ADAS platform. The systems themselves will include an integrated Ride Vision software stack, which enables 360-degree perception capabilities for the vehicle. The BMW Group has said that partnering with both AWS and Qualcomm will provide its engineers with access to advanced hardware, vision software and cloud capabilities within an end-to-end automated driving development platform. At the same time, BMW expects that situating its new automated driving platform in the cloud will also streamline the development process while supporting enhanced global collaboration with its suppliers.
