Under the leadership of consortium leader Volkswagen the 25 partners of the KI-Absicherung project met in Wolfsburg on July 4, 2019 for a kick-off event. This officially started work on the project, which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

For the first time experts from the fields of AI algorithms, 3D visualization and animation as well as functional safety are cooperating in order to develop methods and measures to obtain dependable AI-based functions for automated driving. In the past these experts used to work largely independently of each other. So far AI processes haven often been perceived as a non-transparent black box, which is why their use in safety-relevant applications is a particular challenge. At the same time it is clear that conventional analytical methods are reaching their limits, especially in complex urban scenarios, and that there is de facto no alternative to using AI methods. By developing methods and measures to obtain dependable artificial intelligence for automated driving, the project addresses this challenge and strengthens the transparency of AI-based systems.

Providing proof that individual AI-based blocks function reliably within the overall system of automated driving is at the heart of the KI-Absicherung project. There are three core tasks: On the one hand, research will be conducted into the formation of a neural network for multimodal sensor fusion. The task of recognising pedestrians was selected as a representative function in the field of multisensory perception. Synthetic data will be generated for training and testing the AI perceptual modules. Finally, the project will develop methods and measures whose validity is assessed using the selected KI pedestrian recognition function.

The project which was developed by VDA Leitinitiative – Flagship initiative for autonomous and connected driving –will have a duration of three years.

In coordination with the partners, EICT is in charge of project management and dissemination of the results for this exciting project. Your contact partner at EICT is Dr. Stefan Dietzel: stefan.dietzel(at)eict.de