Automotive News Europe — 2024-01-09
Automotive Industry
Stellantis and BlackBerry are collaborating on a “virtual cockpit” that the automaker says will allow much faster delivery of infotainment technology and cut development costs.
The virtual cockpit, which recreates car controls and systems in the cloud, will accelerate development times in some cases to 24 hours for several months, the companies said Tuesday in a news release.
The cockpit platform is part of Stellantis’ Virtual Engineering Workbench development tool. BlackBerry’s QNX Hypervisor provides the software, while Amazon Web Services provides cloud services. The collaboration was announced to coincide with CES 2024 in Las Vegas. BlackBerry will show a “nonbranded” demonstration of its QNX Hypervisor platform at the show.
“Essentially, we’re able to get closer to our customers’ needs through this technology with faster development cycles, faster feedback loops, and quicker delivery of the technology they know and love,” Stellatnis Chief Software Officer Yves Bonnefont said in the release.
Stellantis expects to generate €20 bn in revenue from software and connected car services by 2030 as part of its Dare Forward 2030 plan. The group is developing three software-based technology platforms, STLA Brain, STLA AutoDrive and STLA SmartCockpit.
The companies did not reveal any financial details or when the simulator will be fully operational, although Stellantis says its SmartCockpit will run on millions of vehicles starting this year.
Automakers are increasingly turning to virtual simulations to save time and money on development and manufacturing. So-called “digital twins” allow engineers, designers and production experts to collaborate from the start of the process.
The Stellantis/BlackBerry cockpit simulator includes tools such as virtualization of graphics, audio and inputs for touch screens, mouse and keyboards, Stellantis said. The virtual versions of these automotive systems behave identically to the real ones, but the main software that runs them does not need to be changed for modifications, helping to speed up development time.
Using cloud-based QNX Hypervisor, Stellantis says it can speed up customer feedback and replicate the user interface of specific models within its range of brands, then make changes in real time.
Matthias Eriksson, the president of BlackBerry IoT (Internet of Things), said the collaboration with Stellantis is “the world’s first commercial hypervisor in the AWS cloud.” Eriksson said it would reduce complexity, speed up innovation and cut software development costs.