ZF Group says it is introducing a new scalable suite of data- and AI-based services for ADAS virtual engineering and digital validation. ADAS.ai is reportedly designed to help OEMs accelerate the development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for passenger cars and commercial vehicles and can be used with ADAS systems developed by ZF as well as those of other Tier 1 suppliers.
According to the company, ADAS.ai is based on two breakthroughs:
1: A super-high-resolution multi-sensor synchronized data set collected by driving all scenarios and mileage required to validate L2+ ADAS systems globally.
2: Proprietary AI technology developed with Cognata of Rehovot, Israel, which transforms the super-high-resolution data set to sensor inputs ‘as seen’ by new sensors in new vehicle applications.
The service is cloud-based and designed to provide significant cost and quality advantages compared with traditional engineering and validation based on physical test drives and existing simulation technology. Full L2+ scenarios based on real-world driving data are injected at multiple points in the engineering and validation phases either in ‘virtual’ or ‘full sensor’ modes, providing dramatic acceleration and efficiency of the engineering and validation processes.
“We use real-world data in an end-to-end approach because we know what our customers and the regulatory organizations seek,” said Christophe Marnat, EVP of ZF’s Electronics and Advanced Driver Assist Systems Division. “With our approach, an OEM needs neither legions of test drivers nor millions in investment dollars to engineer and validate with confidence. We bring the real and virtual worlds together because we use real-world data to drive both modalities. ZF’s vision is to enable full ADAS virtual engineering for ADAS from all Tier 1 suppliers. OEMs want ADAS attributes to be like crash testing – fully validated digitally before the first prototype is built. ZF has the technology to make this happen.”
ZF notes that ADAS.ai integrates exclusive algorithms from Cognata, a leader in the application of AI to AD and ADAS. “Cognata’s AI enables ZF’s validation suite to transfer real driving data to all existing and new vehicles with ADAS technology up to Level 2+ and validate it in the virtual space. We call this real-to-real transformation,” explained Danny Atsmon, CEO of Cognata.