“At Siemens, we’ve always worked on creating an end-to-end solution. From gathering raw materials, bundling them into module systems, and then the final product. After that, it’s testing that product; physical testing is not just expensive, it’s also time consuming. We’ve worked for decades to simulate such things in our labs, so we’re accelerating our testing and our learning.”
And now AI is speeding things up further. Senapati added: “We’ve embedded AI in almost all of our toolsets, so it’s not just a human element of learning from the software, it’s the software learning itself as well, and giving better answers every day.”
To put that in context, Senapati said that software advances have reduced product development cycles by over 30%. “Some of our customers are doing an all-new car, including the platform, in 36 months, while a new variant arrives in 12-18 months,” he added.
And while he thinks that software can replace the vast majority of development processes, he also reckons elements where human perception shapes a product cannot be replaced by an entirely virtual process, mainly because it’s these areas that car makers use to define their brand. That said, Siemens is investing in AI to focus on these areas.
Save time and money
Streamlined development saves money, too. As Red Bull’s Watkins said: “We rely on simulation testing, and software underpins our ability to work within the F1 cost cap. Our virtual tools allow us to do more for less.”
Software is vital not only in how we develop cars, but also how the finished vehicles interact with the infrastructure around them.
As Senapati said: “Hardware can’t keep up, so the solution is software, because you can keep updating it to keep up with what’s changing in the infrastructure.”
Volvo’s Arvidsson backed this up, commenting: “We will shortly update all our interface experiences – that will be a massive upgrade. On the EX90, we can upgrade the suspension, deploy new audio features, add autonomous driving features. We have an extensive roadmap of fun features ahead.”
