New Delhi: Historically, automotive OEMs have relied on Tier-1 suppliers for software program, however Daimler Truck Innovation Centre India (DTICI) appears decided to shift the paradigm. With a pointy concentrate on in-house software program improvement, the centre goals to develop a minimum of 80 per cent of its software software program internally within the coming years.
Based in 2021 as a part of Daimler’s world restructuring, the organisation is headquartered in Bengaluru and has develop into the most important R&D hub for Daimler exterior Germany.
In an unique dialog with ETAuto, Angelin Mary GP, Vice President of Automobile Software program at DTICI, shared that the centre’s main focus within the coming years can be to decouple software software program from the underlying {hardware}. This strategic transfer, she reveals, is aimed toward positioning software program as a key differentiator for Daimler Vans on the worldwide stage.
At the moment, the organisation’s software program is tightly built-in with {hardware}, creating important dependencies on suppliers. As a part of the bigger scheme, Daimler Truck and the Volvo Group introduced a three way partnership to develop a unified software-defined car platform and a devoted truck working system, aiming to drive the digital transformation of industrial quality vehicles and pave the way in which for future software-defined business autos.
The brand new enterprise will concentrate on making a spinoff system that leverages high-performance computing platforms, decreasing the dependencies and enhancing flexibility.
“This decoupling will permit us to replace software program extra independently, giving us larger flexibility, decreasing time-to-market, and enabling sooner deployment of recent options and enhancements,” Mary stated.
Her broader imaginative and prescient is to carry the intelligence of trade automation and user-friendliness of cellphones proper into autos. “That is the journey we’re on, and it’s extremely thrilling to be part of it. We’re advancing in direction of software-defined autos (SDVs), integrating generative AI capabilities straight into the automobile, and reworking the car right into a linked machine inside a bigger digital ecosystem.”
Mary, who started her profession as a scientist on the authorities’s Defence Analysis and Growth Organisation (DRDO), is a number one voice in car software program and expertise in India. She underscores the significance of hiring the best expertise on this dynamic trade, whereas additionally stressing the necessity for brand new hires to dedicate the primary 5 years to mastering a selected area. “Specialisation is essential to profession success,” she opines.
A seasoned skilled with over 26 years of expertise, Mary advocated for steady studying, and said, “Even at the moment, I learn to remain up to date. Accountability and competence are essential, particularly in our quickly evolving trade.”
Quick rising SDV pattern
Angelin Mary GP highlighted that during the last 20 years, as automobile volumes have elevated in India, so has the variety of ECUs in every car. However now there’s a shift–the home automotive trade is transitioning in direction of area controllers and high-performance computing platforms. “Particularly within the Digital Management and Regulation (ECR) area, we used to lag behind by a era– about 5 to seven years–however that’s now not the case.”
She identified that even within the business car (CV) phase, India is making fast developments—by as a lot as two years in some instances. This shift is basically pushed by new laws mandating security options comparable to superior emergency braking, driver drowsiness detection, enhanced alert methods for transferring objects, and different applied sciences, that are set to take impact by April 2026.
These options have been initially deliberate for a phased rollout beginning two years later, however the timeline has now been expedited. In consequence, organisations at the moment are accelerating efforts to implement these options sooner throughout vehicles and buses in India.
Globally, DTICI has deployed options just like the Related Site visitors Warnings system for Daimler’s vehicles and buses, alerting drivers to hazards, congestion, and route closures by way of V2X connectivity. Nevertheless, Angelin famous these superior options will take extra time to succeed in India, the place the main target is presently on assembly regulatory necessities. Moreover, DTICI is advancing route optimisation for electrical autos (EVs) to enhance effectivity and power consumption.
Curiously, the organisation can also be exploring modern, driver-centric options. “One of many novel ideas our workforce is engaged on entails gamification– encouraging drivers to contribute precious data, comparable to figuring out tunnels with low clearance, by awarding them factors or incentives.”
“The purpose is to contain drivers extra actively in enriching the info ecosystem. After all, that is nonetheless an early-stage thought, and it might want to undergo varied improvement and approval processes. Extra importantly, it can require a supporting ecosystem, together with a sturdy software program subscription mannequin,” she stated.
Challenges with OTA updates
Talking of over-the-air (OTA) updates in autos, which have gotten more and more widespread in electrical and linked autos, Mary says its infrastructure remains to be within the works and faces distinctive challenges. “The OTA infrastructure remains to be creating, requiring important funding from OEMs. The purpose is to scale back dealership visits by enabling distant software program updates, however accuracy is essential, as unauthorised updates might compromise security.”
Cybersecurity can also be a serious concern, with potential cyberattacks resulting in car theft or malfunctioning methods, damaging model repute and buyer belief. Moreover, the number of car fashions with totally different {hardware} and software program platforms ensures backward compatibility and delivers updates throughout a various fleet complicated.
Bandwidth and community latency additional complicate giant knowledge transfers, particularly in distant areas. Regardless of these challenges, Mary emphasised the long-term advantages of OTA updates, together with the potential to keep away from pricey car remembers. “Distant fixes cut back operational prices, minimise buyer inconvenience, and assist keep model belief.”
Function of information privateness
Whereas world cybersecurity requirements are comparatively constant, knowledge privateness laws differ considerably by area, and that may influence how sure applied sciences are deployed.
Giving an instance of driver monitoring methods within the North American market, she defined how the corporate has lengthy had methods that detect driver drowsiness and subject alerts. Nevertheless, in Germany and different elements of Europe, stricter knowledge privateness issues—particularly round capturing photos or movies of people contained in the car—delayed the rollout of such options. It’s solely now turning into a part of regulatory necessities in these areas.
She added that related options at the moment are being launched in India as nicely. “Throughout our world and Indian groups, we’re deeply centered on knowledge anonymization. This implies we solely extract and use knowledge that’s important for enhancing options, effectivity, or security—with out compromising private privateness. We don’t share or retailer personally identifiable knowledge.”
