Daimler and Bosch are partnering to speed up the development of self-driving cars.
The two companies have signed a development agreement to bring fully automated (SAE Level 4) and driverless (SAE Level 5) driving to urban roads by the beginning of the next decade.
Daimler and Bosch plan to develop software and algorithms for an autonomous driving system.
The project is expected to bring together the total vehicle expertise of the luxury automaker and the hardware capabilities of the automotive supplier.
The two companies seek to improve traffic in urban environments, increase safety on road. The self-driving vehicles in the future will go to the commuters to pick them up, rather than the other way around. A commuter can book a ride and a nearby self-driving vehicle will come to the user and the journey will begin.
The collaboration is part of Daimler’s strategy for future which is Connected, Autonomous, Shared & Services and Electric (CASE).
The German auto-maker announced the new strategy last year to develop connected vehicles, autonomous or self-driving vehicles which could eliminate road accidents altogether, introduce ride-sharing or ride-hailing services which can reduce commuting cost for people and to introduce electric and ultra-low emissions vehicles.
Daimler and its division, Mercedes Benz has been developing self-driving vehicles for several years now. To cater to those people who do not want to own a car and instead rely on public transport or ride-hailing services, it introduced car2go, a ride-hailing company.
Recently, Bosch announced collaboration with Nvidia to develop artificial intelligence for the computer powering a self-driving vehicle. The computer will be based on Nvidia’s deep learning software and Drive PX processor.
