As the automotive industry moves into the age of the software-defined vehicle, the migration will not be an easy one, but more tools are coming into play that will help manufacturers and their partners introduce new features and critical safety functions. Infineon Technologies AG and software firm Apex.AI added a new one to the list as the Embedded World event in Germany came to a close this week.
By integrating Apex.AI’s software development kit and Infineon’s AURIX TC3X microcontroller, they have co-developed a new platform that expedites software development for automotive customers and will enable faster integration of safety-critical automotive functions into future vehicles, the companies said
“The AURIX TC3x is widespread across automotive applications and well known for its reliability, scalable performance and broad customer base,” said Thomas Schneid, Senior Director Software, Partnership & Ecosystem Management from Infineon. “Together with Apex.AI we are now speeding up software development and implementation of microcontrollers to make software-defined vehicles possible. New applications in the car demand new SW [software] Ecosystem components which complement and enhance our existing SW environments.”
Dr. Jan Becker, Co-founder and CEO of Apex.AI, agreed, noting that the automotive industry faces a big job in migrating from hardware-centric products to software-defined vehicles. “The integration of the Infineon AURIX TC3x microcontroller family, the leading embedded automotive safety controller, with Apex.Grace will significantly accelerate development times and lower deployment costs,” Becker said.
Infineon’s AURIX TC3x is one of the major embedded safety controllers worldwide to obtain ASIL D certification according to the 2018 ISO 26262 standard. ASIL D is the highest level of automotive functional safety. Meanwhile, Apex.Grace, formerly known as Apex.OS, and based on the open-source robot operating system (ROS), is a complete SDK for software-defined vehicles that also is certified to ISO 262626 ASIL D.
A statement from Infineon and Apex.AI said the companies demonstrated the capabilities of the new platform at Apex.AI’s booth at Embedded World 2023, where they showcased the ease of deploying seat belt status notifications across multiple seats in a vehicle. The demonstration showed how the signals are processed through a vehicle's system, ultimately showcasing how a seatbelt warning is calculated and delivered to the driver.