Bosch teams up with Microsoft to develop a software platform to seamlessly connect cars to the cloud. The goal of this collaboration is to simplify and accelerate the development and deployment of vehicle software throughout a car’s lifetime in accordance with automotive quality standards.
The new platform, which will be based on Microsoft Azure and incorporate software modules from Bosch, will enable software to be developed and downloaded to the control units and vehicle computers. A further focus of the collaboration will be on the development of tools that increase efficiency in the software development process. This in turn will drive innovation and reduce development costs for vehicle software within and across organizations. For drivers, the platform will mean quicker access to new functions and digital services.
The collaboration between Bosch and Microsoft combines the wealth of software, electronics, and systems expertise of the world’s leading automotive supplier with Microsoft’s know-how in software engineering and cloud computing. Both companies intend to make the new software platform available for first vehicle prototypes by the end of 2021.
The collaboration will benefit from Bosch’s deep understanding of electrical and electronic architectures, control units, and vehicle computers, which is necessary for over-the-air vehicle updates. In addition, the company will contribute its expertise as well as software-based products and development tools for cars. This includes the basic software and middleware for vehicle computers and control units, as well as cloud-based software modules to bring over-the-air updates to entire vehicle fleets.
The pre-integrated platform will greatly reduce the complexity of over-the-air updates, which help ensure that a vehicle’s software is always up to date since the software architectures of vehicles and the cloud will now fit together seamlessly.
Bosch and Microsoft also plan to enrich existing developer tools that will enable automakers and suppliers to simplify and accelerate their own software development, while adapting to the unique challenges in the automotive industry.
The companies also plan to use GitHub’s fully integrated enterprise platform and to open-source important parts of the new software platform on GitHub.com to encourage code re-use and best practice sharing across the industry.
