VW to use real-world data from customers' cars to improve road safety

Volkswagen Group is aiming to improve road safety by using real-world sensor and image data from its customers’ vehicles to continuously optimise driver assistance and autonomous driving systems.  

Customers of the group's brands will be able to access the improvements through over-the-air software updates to the vehicle.

The manufacturer says that by continuously improving the driving functions, it will “enhance driving comfort and contribute positively to overall traffic safety”.

High-quality data from real traffic situations are central to this continuous optimisation of powerful assistance systems, it explains.

Customers will need to give their consent for the data to be shared and Volkswagen stressed all data protection regulations are observed.

For their work, developers focus on specific situations where driver assistance systems are particularly useful, it says.

Data transfer from the vehicle is triggered only in narrowly defined scenarios.

Such triggers can include the use of the emergency brake assistant, manual full braking, and sudden evasive manoeuvres. Continuous data transfer for this purpose does not occur, it added.

Certain sensor, function, and image data are particularly relevant for development work. These include camera images of the vehicle’s surroundings and detection results from the environment sensors, as well as the direction of travel, speed, and steering angle.

Information on weather, visibility, and lighting conditions also plays an important role, says Volkswagen

It aims to start offering the service in Germany before the end of this year, initially with models from the Volkswagen and Audi brands. Other group brands plan to offer the service in due course.

One goal behind the initiative is to make driver assistance systems as precise and smooth as possible.

“Users should perceive them as comfortable and useful and ideally always keep them activated,” said the manufacturer.