- The American National Instruments (NI) and German ETAS have announced the creation of a joint company to offer validation solutions for automotive electronic software.
- The objective is to design solutions using the NI software platform and ETAS test and validation equipment.
The two companies have agreed to jointly design, manufacture and support pre-integrated Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) systems. The objective is to use their respective expertise to improve test and validation solutions for automotive electronic system software (ECUs, sensors, etc.).
This partnership aims to offer new test solutions to meet the needs of the fast-changing automotive industry with the development of electric vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). By combining NI’s software platform and input/output devices with ETAS’ expertise, both companies intend to develop and integrate appropriate HIL solutions.
The HIL (Hardware-in-the-loop) simulation process combines real hardware components with virtual elements whose behavior is simulated.
ETAS GmbH was founded in 1994 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bosch Group. The company provides products and services deployed at all stages of the automotive electronic equipment life cycle, from prototyping during development to diagnosis in a maintenance workshop. These solutions, modular and configurable hardware and software components, can be used independently or in combination.
The systems proposed by the joint venture obviously aim to shorten design cycles, test times and time to market for electronic equipment embedded in vehicles.
Each company will own 50% of the joint venture, which will be headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory and antitrust approvals, and is expected to be completed in June 2019.
