The large fleet of vehicles from the Volkswagen Group already contributes to increasing overall traffic safety today. Among other things, the vehicles generate high-resolution maps using anonymized swarm data. This “wisdom of the crowd” helps vehicles with lane guidance in areas without road markings. Precise driving instructions and hazard information, which can be narrowed down by local weather, are also possible.
Developers now aim to continuously optimize driver assistance systems with high-quality data from customer vehicles in real traffic situations. Such data are more everyday-relevant compared to tests with development vehicles or computer simulations. The goal is to make driver assistance systems as precise and smooth as possible. Users should perceive them as comfortable and useful and ideally always keep them activated. Active assistance systems offer increased safety for all: both the vehicles with activated systems and the road users in the immediate vicinity benefit from them.
Specific data transfer in defined scenarios
For their work, developers focus on specific situations where driver assistance systems are particularly useful. Data transfer from the vehicle is triggered only in narrowly defined scenarios. Such triggers can include the use of the emergency brake assistant, manual full braking, and sudden evasive maneuvers. Continuous data transfer for this purpose does not occur.
Certain sensor, function, and image data are particularly relevant for development work. These include camera images of the vehicle’s surroundings and detection results from the environment sensors, as well as the direction of travel, speed, and steering angle. Information on weather, visibility, and lighting conditions also plays an important role.
CARIAD provides technical backbone for data transfer
CARIAD’s cloud platform connects to the vehicle’s onboard computers via a specially developed data interface and enables secure data transfer to a protected area. Initially, models from the Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Audi brands equipped with the E3 1.1 and E3 1.2 architectures have been technically enabled for image data transfer. This includes the all-electric ID. model family from Volkswagen, as well as new models from Audi: Q6 e-tron, A6 e-tron, A5, and Q5. Both brands plan to start the project later in 2024. Other Group brands plan to gradually join the initiative and prepare their product portfolios accordingly.
Customer consent is the fundamental prerequisite for the transfer and processing of data. This consent can be given in various ways and will be individually designed by the brands, for example, as an option in the customer’s own profile. Consent can be revoked at any time.
Data transfer may also affect pedestrians and cyclists
Data collection and transfer may also affect other vehicles or road users such as pedestrians and cyclists in the immediate vicinity. This is particularly important as camera-based systems need to visually classify objects clearly even under adverse conditions and correctly assess complex traffic situations. Examples include busy supermarket parking lots or turn lanes with crossing bike paths. All data protection regulations are, of course, observed. Individual information about people in the traffic environment is not relevant.
Interested parties can view the recording conditions and data protection declarations online and request further information. The first brands in the group to provide this information are Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Audi . Other group brands will follow with their information at the start of their respective projects.