While car assembly lines have become fully automated, what happens when the finished car reaches the end of the line? Previously, drivers would sit behind the wheel to pilot new cars from the factory floor to the test track or the final inspection point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This labor-intensive stage of production is not only because people have to drive cars to the next destination, but also because, after delivery, they need to be transported back onto the conveyor to get into the next car coming off the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BMW is automating this process with Embotech, Outsight, and Hesai by installing lidar infrastructure at its factories to provide vehicles with the necessary sensor data for safe autonomous driving. It began with a pilot project at the BMW plant in Dingolfing, Germany, in 2022, and is now expanding to production at other plants, starting with Leipzig and then moving to other factories. BMW calls this Automated Driving on the Factory (AFW).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first cars to go through BMW\u2019s factories were the 5 and 7 Series, assembled in Dingolfing, followed by the Mini Countryman and other BMW models in Leipzig. In addition to the BMW 5 Series and 7 Series in Dingolfing, this technology is now also being used for the MINI Countryman and other BMW models in Leipzig. The AFW system can control the movement of these vehicles regardless of the specific additional equipment installed, through BMW\u2019s cloud architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Automated driving on the factory floor optimizes our production process and provides a significant increase in the efficiency of our logistics,” explains Milan Nedeljkovic, a member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for production. “That\u2019s why we will rapidly roll out this technology across our entire production network.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company claims that it can use automated driving for about 90 percent of BMW and MINI models in Leipzig and plans to add factories in Regensburg (Germany) and Oxford (UK) later this year. When the new factory in Debrecen, Hungary, opens, it will join the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AFW system can do even more in the future, as BMW plans to extend it to tasks such as driving newly assembled cars through test areas and into outdoor distribution zones. As vehicles are equipped with more onboard sensors for driver assistance systems, they will contribute to the capabilities of the AFW system, supplementing situational awareness with current external lidar sensors installed across the factory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In the next ten years, we will drive several million test kilometers with automated driving on the factory floor alone within our production network,” says Nedeljkovic. “Thus, the BMW Group is once again setting a new standard for automation and digitization of its production processes, paving the way for future applications in autonomous driving.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AFW system was built in partnership with Embotech AG, which, in turn, relied on collaboration with Outsight and Hesai to create the vehicle navigation system based on lidar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outsight provides the advanced lidar software platform that tracks the car and surrounding obstacles on BMW\u2019s production facilities. Hesai provides the actual lidar sensors that enable the computer to see where the cars are going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The combination of Outsight\u2019s advanced lidar software platform and the reliable lidar sensors from Hesai perfectly complements Embotech\u2019s autonomous driving expertise,” said Alexander Domahidi, CTO and founder of Embotech. “This collaboration ensures the highest safety and efficiency standards for BMW\u2019s automated vehicle operations.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4808,"template":"","class_list":["post-4785","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n