Bosch is expanding its expertise in automated driving and strengthening its market position with the acquisition of Atlatec GmbH, which will become part of the Bosch Cross-Domain Computing Solutions division as an independently operated company. 

Atlatec is one of the world’s most innovative providers of high-resolution digital maps for driver assistance and automated driving. The company, which was spun off from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in 2014, employs around 25 people in Germany, Japan, and the United States. 

Dr. Mathias Pillin, president of the Cross-Domain Computing Solutions division said, “The planned acquisition of Atlatec further expands our expertise in the field of high-resolution digital maps. It makes Bosch the only company that can offer its customers all the necessary building blocks of automated driving, from actuators and sensors to software and maps, from a single source. We are thus consistently expanding our strong position in this area.” 

The Atlatec portfolio includes not only data recording and processing but also creation of the maps themselves as well as the requisite quality control. For the creation of maps, Atlatec has developed a scalable solution with its own sensor box and associated software. The raw data this solution collects is analyzed using artificial intelligence and enriched with important information such as traffic signs and the sharpness of bends, as well as structural features such as tram tracks. 

For Bosch, automated driving is a strategic area of business. The company is the innovation leader in this field. With driver assistance systems and the requisite sensor technology, it laid the foundation for all automation levels at an early stage. Bosch is taking a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, with the aim of making driving safer and more relaxed, it is developing solutions for private vehicles with a focus on driver assistance and on partially and conditionally automated systems (SAE Levels 1 to 3). On the other hand, the Bosch development team is also working on solutions for higher levels of automation, with a focus on fleet vehicles and new operating models. In the logistics sector in particular, the company sees attractive applications and huge business potential for SAE Level 4 automated driving systems. Moreover, Bosch has already developed automated valet parking, the first production-ready automated driving function not to require a driver at all.