ZF expands development capabilities for autonomous driving

ZF is expanding its development competences in the autonomous driving field. On December 1, 2017, 20 developers from the IEE Sensing Germany GmbH, based in Kösching in Upper Bavaria, will become part of the ZF Group and work for ZF’s subsidiary ‘Zukunft Ventures’ under the name ‘Zukunft Mobility’.

IEE Sensing Germany GmbH specialises in the development of functions for driver assistance, integrated vehicle safety and autonomous driving. Its 20 employees include computer scientists, physicists and software developers, and have many years of experience in the automotive industry.

They will be working on developing these functions for the future, particularly in the sensor and software development sectors, and the simulation and test procedures, to make them ready for production. To achieve this, they will also use their many years of expertise in the field of artificial intelligence.

“The expansion of our capabilities and skills in software and algorithm development is extremely important for ZF; it enables us to offer our customers intelligent mechanical systems,” said ZF CEO Dr. Stefan Sommer. “With the developers from IEE Sensing Germany GmbH, we have an experienced and competent team where together, we can work on the future of the automobile industry. In terms of our ‘See – Think – Act’ claim, we are strengthening the ‘Think’ element, i.e. making the intelligent connection between what is happening in the vehicle’s surroundings and subsequently how it should act.”

ZF says the development of functions, systems and algorithms for automated and autonomous driving will be at the forefront of its activities. This could include, for example, environmental detection of vehicles or objects for automated parking scenarios.

Data fusion is a focal point: This enables the vehicles to process data from various sensors and from car-to-x communication, and generate the appropriate responset. With the new location in Kösching, situated just off the German A9 freeway, ZF also gains direct access to the A9 testing ground and can test autonomous driving in real traffic conditions.

IEE Sensing Germany GmbH was previously part of the IEE Group, a global automotive supplier with headquarters in Contern, Luxembourg. The team will continue to be led by its current general manager, Dr. Frank Keck, together with Dr. Martin Randler, who is responsible among other activities for the pre-development of sensor technologies at ZF. They will remain at their current location in Kösching.