After years of developing its own driver assistance software, Daimler AG is turning that over to Elektrobit so it can concentrate on its "core business."

After years of going it alone and developing the impressive technology that’s been deployed on Mercedes-Benz E and S Class vehicles, Daimler AG is reaching out to a German software supplier to develop driver assistance software.

Elektrobit (EB), which is chartered in Finland, has developed embedded software for automobiles for than 25 years.

Considered a pioneer in the introduction of important innovations in navigation and infotainment, the company has become a dedicated auto-industry partner providing technologies, tools and services for automotive manufacturers, such as BMW, Daimler, GM and Volkswagen.

It has an ongoing joint venture with Audi and worked closely with Ford and Microsoft in the development of Sync and EB now has offices near Seattle and Detroit.

This partnership with Daimler enables EB to take over responsibility for driver assistance software engineering, allowing Daimler to focus on its core business, according to Elektrobit executives.

“This close cooperation between Daimler and EB, with EB taking the role of a direct software provider for driver assistance, is unseen before in the automotive industry,” said Alexander Kocher, president of EB’s Automotive Business Segment.

“It underlines the growing importance of software as a key differentiation factor also in the driver assistance area, for both luxury and mass market vehicles and also mirrors the increasing separation of software from hardware components.

“Together with Daimler we are now developing strategies to meet the growing complexity of driver assistance,” he said.

Joachim Missel, senior manager, Camera-Systems and Parking-Assistance Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler, said the agreement is based on successful collaboration in recent years.

“During the last two and a half years, we have delivered more than 230 version releases with 75 series approvals with EB – and all these releases have been on time.

“Thanks to EB’s expertise in developing automotive-grade software for driver assistance, we are able to deliver vehicles with a maximum of safety, quality and performance,” he said.

Driver assistance systems produced by Daimler seek to ensure a maximum level of safety for drivers and passengers, according to Elektrobit officials, but they are growing increasingly complex, creating the need for greater specialization.

Manuela Papadopol, EB director of global marketing, said demand for the system is growing right along with the sophistication.

The system on the S-Class, for example, can help drivers from falling asleep, detect pedestrians and initiate autonomous braking in case of emergency and take corrective measures automatically as soon as the vehicle has left its lane, she said.

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EB has long supported Daimler in the development of most of these features. The support comprised function and implementation models, software implementation, module tests and integration tests for more than 200 software modules and more than 25 car series.

“This new concept will simplify the management of the rising number of versions and variants,” said Markus Schupfner, vice president, Infotainment Solutions at EB’s Automotive Business Segment.

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“It will shorten development time, reduce costs and improve quality and set the trend for a future increase of efficiency in driver assistance as well as in other areas of automotive software engineering.”