Off-Highway Vehicles: Ensuring work safety and productivity

Intelligence, digitization and automation of machines can only be realized with complex E/E architectures. Professional systems engineering is also essential to manage the complexity. Success hinges on getting the software design right. As an engineering partner, we support your efforts to develop platform-based software and systems engineered to minimize time to market while maximizing software quality in the field.

What we do at a glance:

• Software and control unit integration into your legacy systems
• Software design and architecture
• Multilayer hardware and software architectures
• Hybrid systems for real-time and performance
• Model-based software development
• Support for platform-independent development – even for proprietary software (Embedded Linux, Autosar, ROS, Hypervisor-RTOS, OSEK)

Combine harvesters, wheel loaders, and a host of other agricultural and construction machines are working more and more independently. Localization, machine learning, driverless control systems – these are all common at modern building sites and farms. Both industries are pioneers of mobile and semi-autonomous machines. Automated workflows that maximize efficiency certainly benefit these lines of business by boosting productivity.

However, even the highest level of autonomy is pointless without safety. This is one of the reasons why state-of-the-art communication and information technologies, paired with smart controllers and sensors, have made inroads into agricultural and construction machinery. You can count on us to help you with everything from developing concepts and function-centered software to verifying and validating vehicular features in the virtual and real worlds.

What we do at a glance:

• 3D terrain mapping (terrain simulation, navigability analysis, object recognition, and POI)
• Sensor and data fusion
• Environment and sensor simulations
• Functional safety and cyber security

Functional safety is a growing concern as more and more control units are installed in mobile machinery. And accident prevention is among the most pressing priorities. Cataloging and classifying hazards, defining and implementing risk mitigation practices, verifying and documenting actions – we can help you every step of the way towards achieving and observing functional safety.

What we do at a glance:

• ISO25119- and ISO13849-compliant hazard and risk analysis (HARA)
• Functional and technical safety concepts
• Embedding safety mechanisms in hardware and software
• SOTIF (ISO21448): Tackling SOTIF-related risks

Farming is going digital with automated workflows, IoT solutions, and crops monitored via satellite. As your partner of first choice for the 4.0 version of agriculture and construction, we are here to help you make that transition.

What we do at a glance:

• XOTA (over-the-air updates and diagnostic)
• Predictive diagnostics
• Data analytics & management (cloud connectivity)
• Cyber security
• ISOBUS
• NEVONEX

Innovations in digital agriculture require data exchange to be secure. Data integrity is imperative. This ability to share information across components and machines and with farmers, drivers, vendors, and manufacturers is vital to agricultural machinery’s capacity to operate autonomously. It is a make-or-break factor in precision farming, advanced logistics, and documenting production numbers. But greater connectivity can leave hardware and software vulnerable. As your engineering partner of choice, we advise you on how to incorporate cyber security building blocks in the development processes for tractors, attachments/ implements, and other farm machines and their component parts.

What we do at a glance:

• ISO21434-compliant threat and risk analyses (TARA)
• Security and protection concepts
• Services to implement security mechanisms in hardware (e.g. HSM) and software
• Product development services (e.g. AEF)
• Penetration testing, fuzzing

Learn more about our security expertise.