TIER IV finances the new Autoware research hub at the University of Munich – Unite.AI

TIER IV and the Technical University of Munich announced on October 15, 2026 that they have established the TIER IV TUM Autoware Research Center through a multi-year strategic research collaboration. The center brings together three TUM research groups working on Autoware, the open source autonomous driving software that TIER IV develops and distributes.

The announcement states that the initiative aims to promote safe and scalable autonomous driving systems based on Autoware, strengthen TUM’s role as a leading contributor to the Autoware community in Europe, and accelerate the transfer of research to real-world mobility applications. The release describes Autoware as the world’s leading open source software for autonomous driving.

Open Source background and EDGAR research vehicle

In the background section, the announcement states that as vehicles become more autonomous, connected and software-defined, open source software is becoming increasingly important for the European automotive industry. He cites the European Commission’s concept paper on an open European platform for software-defined vehicles which identifies a strong open source strategy, reference implementations, standardized software components and shared validation tools as key foundations for European collaboration and competitiveness.

TUM already operates EDGAR, an autonomous research vehicle running the open source software Autoware. At IAA MOBILITY 2025, EDGAR offered public demonstration rides from Messe München to central Munich through urban, rural and motorway environments, a program the release presents as a demonstration of how open source software, research and engineering can be integrated and evaluated in various real-world traffic conditions.

TUM also demonstrated rapid adaptation to a new city. Within a week, the TUM team deployed EDGAR in Berlin and demonstrated autonomous operation on the city’s urban streets, according to the release. The demonstration, conducted in collaboration with TÜV-Verband, tested a new assessment methodology for Level 4 autonomous driving in real traffic conditions for the German government.

Johannes Betz, professor of autonomous vehicle systems at TUM, said the university combines learning-based methods with traditional rule-based systems to create autonomous systems that can scale while remaining safe and testable, and is implementing them in the real world. “Our EDGAR autonomous research platform is based on the open source Autoware software stack, which provides a great foundation for autonomous driving research and education,” he said.

Structure of the Center and areas of research interest

The center was established thanks to strategic research funding from TIER IV and combines the expertise of three TUM research groups: the Chair of Automotive Technology (FTM) and the chairs of Cyber ​​Physical Systems (CPS) and Autonomous Vehicle Systems (AVS). According to the release, the center will serve as a long-term foundation for autonomous driving research, open source software development and doctoral training, connect academic, industrial and public transport projects, and provide a platform for demonstrations and benchmark challenges.

The release defines three areas of research focus for the collaboration. The focus on safety is the development of a hybrid architecture that combines deep learning-based driving models with rule-based supervision, including a verifiable “safety guardian” that will monitor driving behavior and intervene when necessary based on defined safety constraints.

As part of the evaluation, the partners will create a benchmarking and verification framework for component- and system-level testing through simulation, offline analysis and real-world operation, building on TUM’s EDGAR research platform and CommonRoad’s expertise. The focus on scalability will establish a repeatable process for adapting and evaluating Autoware in new environments, with improvements made to open source projects where appropriate.

Stated goals for the open ecosystem

TIER IV and TUM intend for the initiative to provide a basis for expanding the open autonomous driving ecosystem in Germany and across Europe by connecting academic research, industrial development and public transport projects. The partners said the collaboration aims to provide European vehicle manufacturers with technologies and evaluation methods that support the development of open, safe, scalable and product-oriented autonomous driving systems. Open software, shared evaluation methods and visible demonstrations will provide organizations with a common platform on which to test technologies, develop talent and promote autonomous mobility towards commercial and public use, they said.

“Safe autonomous driving at scale requires advances in artificial intelligence, system architecture, verification and implementation,” said Shinpei Kato, founder and CEO of TIER IV. “By combining TUM’s research capabilities with TIER IV’s expertise in developing and implementing Autoware, we aim to create open technologies and benchmarks that benefit the broader autonomous driving ecosystem. This collaboration also marks an important step towards advancing Europe’s open autonomous driving ecosystem by providing OEMs with technologies and evaluation methods that support the development of safe and scalable autonomous driving systems.”