BMW Group combines expertise in Munich’s Unterschleissheim.
Munich.
The BMW iNEXT is scheduled for release in 2021 – self-driving,
electric and fully connected. A whole range of highly-automated
models from all BMW Group brands are set to follow. To achieve this
aim, the BMW Group is combining its development expertise in vehicle
connectivity and automated driving at a new campus in
Unterschleissheim near Munich.
Upon final completion, more than 2,000 employees will work on
the next steps towards fully-automated driving, from software
development to road testing, at the new location. “The road to
fully-automated driving is an opportunity for Germany’s automobile
manufacturing base. The decision to develop and road-test these
vehicles in the Munich area illustrates how the BMW Group and the
whole region can benefit from this shift in the automotive
industry,” explains Klaus Fröhlich, member of the Board of
Management, responsible for Development at the BMW Group.
Agility as a core competence.
From mid-2017, expertise currently distributed across several
different locations will be pooled in Unterschleissheim. “In order
to succeed, we are establishing new forms of collaboration under
“project i 2.0”, with small teams of specialists for rapid response
and collaboration across the company, as well as a high level of
individual decision-making authority,” explains Fröhlich. The new
work structures will be characterised by agile teams, short
distances – and, above all, short decision-making processes. At the
new campus, software developers will be able to take the code they
have just written across the way for testing in an actual vehicle.
“We are combining the advantages of a start-up, such as flexibility
and speed, with those of an established company, like process
security and industrialisation expertise,” adds the Development
head. “The future development site for autonomous driving will
enable us to launch the BMW iNEXT, the first self-driving BMW, onto
the market in 2021,” according to Fröhlich. The BMW Group aims to
start testing highly-automated vehicles in the urban environment, in
Munich, as early as 2017.
“We do our own programming.”
The BMW Group currently employs around 600 people in development
of highly-automated driving. The majority are software developers –
and their number is increasing. “We still do our own programming
here and are responsible for implementing our own ideas,” explains
André Müller, a software developer in the autonomous driving team.
“We use the latest technologies, such as ROS (Robot Operating
System), and are able to see the results quickly and directly in the
vehicle. It is extremely exciting to be working on such an important
area for the future.” André Müller is eager to welcome new
colleagues. With the campus in Unterschleissheim, the BMW Group
continues to expand its development of highly-automated vehicles and
is looking for IT specialists and software developers in the areas
of artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analysis.
All current job vacancies and information on joining the BMW
Group can be found at bmw.jobs/karrierewebsite.
Software developer André Müller talks more about his work in an
interview at bmw.jobs/facebookinterview
(Interview in German language. Interview opportunities in
English are available any time on request).