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Carmakers and technology firms are increasingly working together
as they race against Silicon Valley companies such as Google,
Tesla and Apple to develop driverless vehicles.
"Together with Intel and Mobileye, the BMW Group will develop
the necessary solutions and innovative systems for highly and
fully automated driving to bring these technologies into series
production by 2021," the three companies said in a joint
statement on Friday.
They said their new platform would be made available to multiple
carmakers, without saying whether they were already in talks
over any deals.
Sophisticated cruise control systems already enable "hands off"
driving as cameras and computers allow cars to automatically
brake, steer and accelerate in traffic at low speeds. But
drivers are required to stay in control.
Now the auto industry wants to develop higher levels of
automation described as "eyes off," "mind off," and "driver off"
cruising.
This requires much more computing power and software know-how,
forcing traditional carmakers to collaborate more closely with
technology specialists.
Auto camera and software maker Mobileye said it would supply its
Road Experience Management (REM) technology to the alliance and
make its latest EyeQ5 chip available to be deployed on Intel
computing platforms.
The three companies said they would demonstrate their technology
in a prototype in the near future.
(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Mark Potter)
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