CARIADs journey to SDV and insights into CI/CD pipeline

Last week at WeAreDevelopers, we connected with the global developer community gathered in Berlin. Our CEO, Peter Bosch gave a keynote about our journey to develop software defined vehicles for the Volkswagen Group. In addition, our CARIDIANs Sebastian Roßner and Lukas Sucher, gave insights into the CI/CD pipeline they have built in our Automated Driving Alliance with Bosch, where we are developing automated driving functions for everyone.

Why customers and developers will love cars even more

In his keynote, our CEO Peter Bosch took the audience on our journey towards the Software Defined Vehicle and explained why cars will become one of the most exciting tech products ever.

The Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) will put the customer experience first. In the future, the vehicle will turn into a gaming console and entertain the entire family on long rides. It will become an office on wheels and seamlessly integrate your work environment. Smart sensors will turn the car into a great health device, checking on your health while on the move. And it will become your safe space to recharge.

To this end, we at CARIAD are driving a paradigm shift in the way we build and design cars and a step change in automotive engineering, merging automotive and tech.

• We are following a software-first approach: Software and the customer experience are becoming even more decisive drivers in automotive engineering.
• We are moving towards highly integrated and scalable zonal architectures with continuous development and integration. This will pave the way for more advanced, feature-rich, and cost-effective automotive designs that get updated permanently.
• We accelerate our progress with strong & genuine development partnerships, e.g., with Bosch for Automated Driving or XPENG to develop a modern zonal E/E architecture to make China-specific electric vehicle models fit for the next leap in innovation. 
• As part of the global tech community, we also aspire to drive forward innovation and progress through contributing to Open Source, e.g., in Eclipse Foundation. And we have recently joined the Zephyr Project. 

The SDV is the next important thing in tech, and we are on the verge of the car becoming part of a larger tech and developer ecosystem. 

Missed the keynote? Watch Peter Bosch’s full keynote here:

CI/CD pipeline in the Automated Driving Alliance with Bosch

CARIDIANs Sebastian Roßner and Lukas Sucher talked about how they get from Code to Road in under 12 hours. They shared insights into the CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) pipeline, which they built from scratch for the Automated Driving Alliance with Bosch. The key findings from their presentation:

• Our goal is to bring automated driving to everyone by building a scaling ADAS Platform – from entry to luxury class.
• We ensure that each code commit translates into a road-ready solution in less than half a day with a data loop to enable our embedded development.
• Three major development loops were implemented on the cloud planform: Development Loop, Deep Learning Loop and Data Loop.

Lukas and Sebastian’s talk is a deep dive into the practicalities of CI/CD in action, tailored for those looking to enhance their deployment efficiency and software quality. Also, discover the challenges the team faced, the solutions they crafted, and the best practices that emerged from their experiences. 

You can find the recording here:

Highlights from the pre-event

We kicked off the WeAreDevelopers Congress with a packed crowd on Wednesday, July 17th at our pre-event at the Drive Forum in Berlin. 

• Christian Winter talked about evolving In-Car Entertainment trends. 
• Tom Fleischmann presented a deep dive into Open Source in automotive for the SDV of the future.
• And Christian Gierds discussed Security in the Age of Software Defined Vehicles with the crowd.

Check out our recap movie for all the highlights: