Volkswagen Digital Solutions and Bosch develop solutions used globally in Portugal – Computers
In recent years, Portugal has managed to attract some important investments from multinationals that are working on innovative solutions and products for the automotive industry. Critical Software created here a joint venture with BMW, Mercedes-Benz.io has an innovation hub from which digital solutions for the marketing and sales areas come out, CEiiA already intends to give birth to several international projects. Volkswagen and Bosch also chose Portugal to define relevant projects for their respective innovation groups in the area of innovation.
“We chose Portugal because it has excellent universities from which great engineers come, who, from here, integrate with international teams in our business units around the world”. This is explained by Jürgen Reimann, CEO of Volkswagen Digital Solutions, who moved to Portugal in order to coordinate the expansion of this local unit, which by 2024 wants to go beyond the current 240 employees in Portugal (75% Portuguese and the rest from over 15 nationalities ) to 450. From Portugal, the person in charge also has a mission to help strengthen relations between a local unit and the group’s technological departments in Germany.
The planned expansion for VWDS in Portugal will reflect the growth of activity in the three areas in which the unit works since it opened in 2019, and which has already responded to almost 30 projects. By the end of the year, there are three to four more in the pipeline, which extends to 2022. An investment of 30 million euros in the country in 2022 and 40 million euros in 2023 has already been announced.
These three areas of activity that VWDS explores from Portugal already exist in the group and worked in the logic of autonomous startups, with their own work processes and methodologies, which are maintained. They focus on Application Management Services, MAN Digital Hub and software development. The first started by supporting Volkswagen Financial Services applications. Today, he works with other group entities in various parts of the world and for various brands in this universe, such as SEAT, Skoda or Audi.
Customized services for MAN trucks from Portugal
A Digital Hub MAN Digital Digital products for the areas of logistics, transport and commercial vehicles for the various business areas of MAN Truck & Bus. The Software Development Center, which also exists under different brands in Germany, is dedicated to product development user-centric digital displays, also for the various brands in the group.
In these three areas there are projects ranging from engineering to production, through sales and after-sales, support for electrification and in some areas related to autonomous driving, especially with regard to over-the-air updates, related to some assisted driving services.
In particular, a solution was developed in Portugal to simplify the process of selling a car, integrating more easily and with fewer steps all the customization options chosen by the customer.
The MAN Now service was also developed in Portugal. It includes a set of features that allow us to customize the use to the needs of drivers and companies, to improve on-board safety. The availabilities available for each vehicle are selected through a digital platform and made available over-the-air. These features include navigation systems with map updates and real-time traffic information, real-time diagnostics or maintenance alerts.
VWDS’ plan for the coming years is also to attract projects in new areas to Portugal, namely with regard to production, which continues to be a central area for trams, although the challenges have been renewed and are now going well. part of the software issues. In Portugal, three teams are already being formed to help with the group’s more than 100 factories in this area, explains Jürgen Reimann.
In the autonomous driving area, the responsible admits that local teams may also play a more active role. “This is a very complex project that involves several fronts. We already work with these teams and we are part of the supply chain involved in this project”. When autonomous driving takes place in Europe, where each country has its own rules, one of the challenges that brands will face will be adapting to the rules and regulations of each country and Jürgen Reimann says that the Portugal team will definitely play a role as well. in that.
Sensors that will “guide” autonomous driving
Autonomous driving is already one of the strong areas of work at Bosch in Braga, where the VMPS (Vehicle Motion and Positioning System) is being developed, a positioning sensor that responds to the diverse requirements of driving. As explained by Armin Karle, head of the Bosch Car Multimedia Development Center in the Minho capital. This sensor “will always let you know where the car is, anytime and anywhere, with much greater accuracy than existing navigation systems”. This is one of several ongoing projects in this area of sensing, but there are others.
RideCare is an example and was designed to support vehicle fleet operators, such as renting companies. “RideCare is a fusion of sensors, in a service driven by AIoT (artificial intelligence and internet of things), where sensors are used to record accidents and non-compliant vehicle use, such as if someone smokes inside of the vehicle”, explains the same person responsible.
In Braga, cockpit technologies are also being developed, which contribute to improving the driving experience and personalizing it, including groups of instruments and computers for infotainment, monitors and internal monitoring systems.
Some of these technologies are developed in partnership with the University of Minho (as is also the case of the EasyRide simulator, in the photo, which tests the V2X technology for communication between vehicles, people and infrastructure) which has been linked to the unit for about a decade. Braga. As António Pontes, associate professor at the School of Engineering of the University of Minho and pivot of the Bosch-UMinho partnership explains, the projects that have brought the two institutions together cover major trends in the evolution of the car and the driving experience.
They have been looking for answers to safety issues related to autonomous driving, communication between cars, creating solutions for human-machine interaction in a semi-autonomous driving environment, where the driver’s attention is still needed. They have also gone through the incorporation of artificial intelligence in autonomous systems and the creation of options for customizing the vehicle’s interior space, with multimedia solutions and innovations in terms of the materials used.
Three projects are currently underway, related to the reinvention of the vehicle’s interior space and the integration of advanced multimedia solutions, such as large screens, advanced security with artificial intelligence support and a factory of the future, supported by 5G connectivity, covering areas such as production, logistics or quality control.
These are still research projects, which fit into a unit to seek to anticipate trends and, at the same time, respond to the current needs of manufacturers. It is part of a wider network within the Bosch group that cooperates, supports and exchanges experiences and know-how and occupies a prominent place in topics relating to Electronics, Mechanics, Software, Optics, Simulation, Testing and Product Validation or Perception.