Within the scope of the “KI-FLEX” project, a powerful, energy-efficient hardware platform for autonomous driving, is being developed together with an associated software framework.

With the help of artificial intelligence (AI), data from laser, camera and radar sensors will be processed and combined reliably and quickly in order to permanently generate a precise image of the real traffic conditions. The vehicle can thus make the right decision in every driving situation. The system adapts dynamically to different operating conditions and thus functions e.g. even in the event of malfunctions or failures of individual sensors. Autonomous driving thus becomes safe and reliable. The flexible design of the ASIC structure enables continuous optimization of the system by integrating future improved NN architectures. The Fraunhofer Institutes IIS and FOKUS participate in KI-FLEX together with partners from industry and research. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and will run until 2022.

Partners

The following partners are involved in KI-FLEX:

• Daimler Center for Automotive IT Innovations (DCAITI, TU Berlin)

• FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg (Chair of Computer Science 3: Computer Architecture)

• Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS (consortium leader)

• Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems FOKUS

• Ibeo Automotive Systems GmbH

• Infineon Technologies AG

• TU Munich (Chair of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Real-time Systems)

• videantis GmbH