- After a two year pilot in Germany, several other BMW factories will soon have vehicles driving themselves autonomously.
- The system controls vehicles through Lidar sensors placed along a pre-defined route in the factory.
- BMW’s technology works regardless of a vehicle’s equipment options.
In the not too distant future, fully-autonomous vehicles are expected to proliferate our roads, but before that happens, carmakers are looking to use self-driving systems to maximize production efficiency. At BMW, vehicles at its plants in Dingolfing and Leipzig, Germany, can pilot themselves around the plant.
The German company has been testing the advanced systems since 2022, initially starting in Dingolfing. Here, the BMW 5-Series and 7-Series models built at the plant drive themselves along a route of more than one kilometer from two assembly halls and through a small test course. They then end up at the plant’s finishing area.
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What’s particularly interesting about the system is that it functions regardless of the vehicle’s equipment options and how advanced its on-board autonomous driving systems are. This is because Lidar sensors have been installed along the route and work alongside an external movement planner and an environmental model that controls the vehicle’s movements. The Dingolfing program is now transitioning from a pilot into series operation. Additionally, the Leipzig plant is being upgraded to support the same Automated Driving In-Plant (AFW) system and will work for roughly 90% of all BMW and Mini models built there.
In 2025, BMW will also introduce the system at its Regensburg and Oxford production facilities. Its new plant in Debrecen, Hungary, will also use the technology when it begins series production.
“Automated Driving In-Plant optimizes our production process and delivers significant efficiency gains for our logistics,” BMW board management responsible for production, Milan Nedeljković, said. “That is why we will be swiftly rolling out this technology throughout our production network.”
BMW plans to expand the use of the technology for other areas of vehicle production, allowing newly-built cars to drive themselves through testing zones and across outdoor distribution areas. Moving forward, more on-board technology will be used to support the external sensors.
