Mr. Stephan Stass, Executive Vice President Engineering and Brake Systems at Robert Bosch GmbH will be delivering a keynote address as part of the opening plenary session taking place on 17th May at 09:15 - 10:15am CEST. Mr. Stass will be talking on the highly topic of "Act by-wire – a new chapter for electrification"
What do you find most interesting about the topic you are presenting on?
It is exciting how much change is currently happening in the automotive industry, powertrain concepts, vehicle architectures and interior design concepts. Many things are questioned by the fact that legacies are eliminated, which in turn opens completely new possibilities. Thus this industry now faces so many chances of innovation and technological advancements.
How has act by-wire changed in the past 5 years? What do you predict will happen in the next 5 to 10 years?
5 years ago, multi-actuation and by-wire systems for high volume platforms were project ideas respectively functional samples, now with the market accelerators they become reality - fast. The controller VDC2.0 already is in the market, and I am sure in 5 to 10 years we will find many more multi actuation functions in the field and electrification will accelerate the implementation of by-wire systems.
How can we advance this?
Collaboration and alignment get key to handle the further rising complexity.
Currently what is the biggest challenge?
With so much innovation potential and creativity we need to focus now on the right things to reduce complexity and keep the cost at reasonable level.
What are the most critical changes that we must make to face the future effectively?
Strong advancements in Digitalization across the industry in order to successfully overcome the challenges we have. Model-based and data-driven development need to become our basic tool set.
When discussing this topic with others in the industry, what is the question about it that you are most frequently asked? How do you answer it?
Is the next step a dry brake? There is a transition ongoing, and the electrification is accelerating also dry brakes. In the end it is a question of TCO, mastering the complexity of the extended portfolio and of course competitive prices.