Global automotive components and technology supplier Bosch is exploring the potential of testing its autonomous driving technology in India. 

The company recently began testing the technology of the future in Japan. Bosch’s initial goal is the development of the highway pilot, which will allow cars to drive autonomously on highways and highway-like roads starting in 2020. Japan is the third country after Germany and the US for Bosch to test its autonomous driving technology. 

Worldwide, nearly 2,500 Bosch engineers are working to develop driver assistance systems and automated driving further. Like the engineers in Germany and the US, the team in Japan is already conducting tests with automated test vehicles on public roads. 

Speaking to Autocar Professional in New Delhi at the Bosch Technology Expo 2016, Dr Markys Heyn, member of the Board of Management, Robert Bosch GmbH, said that the company is having discussions with the Indian government and OEMs and someday could look at testing automated driving in India. 

Dr Heyn said that the company’s Indian engineering centre is playing a crucial role in developing autonomous driving technology.

In his keynote address at the Bosch Technology Expo, Dr Heyn said: “Connectivity is also the key to highly and fully automated driving. Our motivation for developing automated driving is first and foremost to make traffic safer. Each year, about 1.3 million people around the world are killed in road accidents. In some 90 percent of cases, the accident can be attributed to human error. In critical traffic situations, the right technology can save lives.

In countries like India, while automated driving is quite some distance to go, critical safety systems are gaining acceptance from the vehicle users.

Delegating responsibility for driving entirely to the vehicle will place particularly high demands on the safety-critical systems, such as brakes and steering. To ensure maximum system stability, in the event of failure of one of these components, redundancy must be built into the system as a safeguard. Bosch already has such a solution for the brakes. In this instance, both the iBooster electromechanical brake booster and ESP brake control system can independently brake the vehicle without the driver having to intervene.”

In the development of automated driving, Bosch says it benefits from having all the necessary technologies at its fingertips. These include not just the powertrain, brakes, and steering, but also sensors, navigation systems, and connectivity solutions inside and outside the car. 

Also read:

- Bosch conducts automated driving tests on roads in Japan