Embotech and BMW move 1 million vehicles with automated driving technology

When vehicles roll off the production line, human drivers typically have to enter each one to drive and park them or load them onto trucks. Embotech and BMW said today they have moved 1 million vehicles using Embotech’s automated driving technology at four sites in the UK and Germany.

“Automated vehicle movements only create value when intelligence, safety and reliability come together,” said Andreas Kyrtatos, CEO of Embotech. “This milestone shows what is possible when proven technology is integrated into live production and operates reliably around the clock.”

Born out of ETH Zurich in 2013, Embotech has claimed to be a global leader in autonomous driving systems with SAE Level 4 safety certification for industrial logistics and the first company in the world to have multiple TÜV certified level 4 solutions. Its two certified systems – Automated Vehicle Marshalling (AVM) and Autonomous Tractor Solution (ATS) – are built on a shared platform and are deployed in automotive factories, vehicle distribution centers, ports and logistics yards.

The Zurich-based company said its technology can improve safety, productivity, resilience and sustainability in logistics operations. In July, Embotech entered into a strategic partnership with HTEC to expand the deployment of autonomous driving across vehicles, customer programs and industrial sites.

Embotech helps automotive manufacturer increase flexibility

While automotive OEMs are already major adopters of industrial automation, they continue to digitize and adopt new technologies to make manufacturing processes more efficient, Embotech noted. However, much of the market remains in the pilot phase, with only a limited number of vehicles operating autonomously.

The automated driving system is vehicle- and OEM-independent and connects to existing drive-by-wire capabilities.

“Perception for [AVM] it’s in the infrastructure: vehicles don’t need autonomous driving capabilities or additional sensors,” said Eva Beck, commercial director at Embotech The robot report. “The Hesai lidars are mounted in the production environment, so no hardware changes are expected. In the factory we have a standardized software interface, external computers and servers that optimize the driving trajectories 10 times per second.”

Embotech supplies key components, including its AI-based software for perception, prediction and planning, that enables vehicles to operate in complex industrial environments. They also include a separate, deterministic architecture, independently certified by TÜV SÜD, that defines and enforces the security boundary.

“Safety is a key motivation for OEMs, as is reducing manual errors or damage caused by manual behavior,” Beck explained. “Vehicle movements must be precise and integrate into the space constraints of the OEMs. Our system can work together with workers and manually driven vehicles. This allows us to integrate into existing processes and work in all weather conditions.”

A fleet manager obtains destinations from the OEM’s back-end systems, defines vehicle routes and manages communications between automated vehicles, he said.

The value for manufacturers goes beyond individual vehicles, Embotech said. Automated movements can support smoother vehicle flow, more stable and flexible operations, and around-the-clock capacity, regardless of personnel on duty.

BMW moves from pilot project to network implementation

“The 1 million vehicle milestone demonstrates the scale the BMW Group has achieved with in-plant automated driving, spanning different sites, brands, vehicle types and manufacturing and logistics processes,” Embotech said. The partners added that they have demonstrated that the system is precise and reliable enough to be scaled up within BMW’s live production network.

BMW and Embotech have scaled the In-Plant automated driving system to around 3,500 vehicle movements per day, with an availability of more than 99.5 percent. In manufacturing environments where unexpected downtime can disrupt larger operations, maintaining that level of availability is essential to keeping automated vehicle movements integrated, Embotech said.

From an initial pilot project in 2022, Embotech implementations have expanded to four BMW sites including Dingolfing, Leipzig and Regensburg in Germany and the MINI Oxford plant in the UK. The technology supports different use cases in defined production and logistics areas in each factory.

“One million vehicles moved using automated driving technology and the implementation of this technology at four sites to date demonstrate the innovative strength and scalability capabilities of our production network,” said Raymond Wittmann, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for production. “We recognized the potential of in-plant automated driving early, tested it in a pilot phase and systematically developed it to series maturity. We are now rolling out this technology worldwide.

“Automated driving in the factory is a great example of how we are translating the vision of the BMW iFACTORY into industrial practice and promoting efficiency, digitalisation and intelligent connectivity throughout our production,” he added.

Embotech said its Munich team worked closely with BMW to develop supporting tools and processes for implementation, monitoring, diagnosis and recovery. “The operational experience supports the continuous improvement of Embotech’s perception, prediction and planning software, helping future implementations and releases of the software build on what has been learned in live production,” he said.

“What excites us, beyond the one million milestone, is the pace at which this experience is consolidating,” said Kyrtatos. “With BMW Group, we completed the first 500,000 automated vehicle movements in 15 months and the next 500,000 in just seven. For Embotech, the next phase is to translate what we have learned into more use cases, sites, customers and industrial environments.”

“We are also looking to implement automated driving in-plant next year at BMW Spartanburg,” Beck said, referring to the South Carolina factory where BMW has been testing Figure AI humanoid robots. “We are further adapting our solution to use cases and customers.”