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Ralph Lauxmann (born in 1964) has been Vice President
Systems & Technology and a member of the manage-
ment board of the Chassis & Safety division of Continen-
tal AG since January 2015. After completing a degree in
mechanical engineering at the University of Stuttgart,
Lauxmann, who was born in the city, joined the auto-
motive division of Robert Bosch GmbH in 1994. Over a
period of around 17 years, he held a number of different
positions at Robert Bosch GmbH and Robert Bosch
Engineering GmbH. During his time at Bosch, many
patent applications were filed in the field of driver assis-
tance systems and driving dynamics control. In 2011,
Lauxmann moved to Knorr-Bremse SfN GmbH in
Munich, where for almost three years he was responsible
for global development and for the central engineering
function for commercial vehicles and managed the
establishment of new international development sites in
Hungary and India. In December 2013, Lauxmann © Moritz Reich | Continental
joined Continental in Frankfurt-Rödelheim as Head of
Strategic Customer Programs in the Chassis Electronics
segment of the Vehicle Dynamics business unit.

transport which operates on a timetable. the necessary level of redundancy. There is no significant difference
In addition, customers will not be picked Will this not make cars too expensive? between the requirements and the com-
up from a bus stop but from wherever I am working on the assumption that ponents needed for level 3 and level 4.
they happen to be at the time. They will there will be areas of overlap in cars. If an unforeseen event occurs during a
also be taken to exactly where they want Today’s models already have sensors that journey with a level 3 system, the driver
to go. At the same time, the cost of using use different physical measurement prin- must take over within a specified time.
these services must be attractive. In order ciples, such as radar, cameras, lidar and Level 4 systems are required to handle
to meet these requirements cost-effec- ultrasound. These sensors are linked unforeseen events without the driver’s
tively, a whole ecosystem of apps and ser- together by intelligent networks. By devel- intervention and remove responsibility
vices will have to grow up around people oping the networking of the sensor sig- for driving from the driver. This opens
movers to ensure that the best possible nals even further, we will be able to up the possibility for drivers to focus
use is made of their capacity and that they establish the necessary level of redun- fully on other activities, such as writing
can be operated continuously. I expect dancy in future and hopefully prevent the e-mails, watching videos or sleeping.
this to be a normal feature of everyday life cost of the systems from increasing as a
within ten years at the latest. result of the additional requirements.
“The level 4 removes
This means that the service providers will Which sensors will be used in cars in future? responsibility from
always know where we are. What do the Will ultrasound survive?
data protection authorities in Germany have There will be sensor networks consisting the driver”
to say to this? of long-, mid- and short-range radar,
When I’m in the USA, for example in together with Surround View cameras
Detroit, I use Uber and Lyft. But I’m and front and rear cameras. In addition, Fully automated systems are being developed
aware that my behaviour can easily be there will be lidar sensors on all four initially for motorway use. How will the
monitored. For example, my location is corners of the car. I think that ultra- Cruising Chauffeur function work?
constantly being reported. I believe that sound sensors will be phased out in the The goal of our Cruising Chauffeur is to
the European approach to protecting long term, because they only cover the take over full responsibility for the
personal data and to privacy is viable area immediately around the car at very motorway driving task. This sounds sim-
and sustainable. However, I expect that low speeds. They will be replaced by ple, but it is highly complex. The system
the new mobility concepts will require short-range radar and Surround View must be able to deal with difficult situa-
amendments to be made to the existing cameras. tions safely, such as roadworks, toll
data protection guidelines, in order to booths and leaving one motorway to join
allow every user to exploit the potential Some experts are saying that we should another. In addition, the human-machine
of these transport systems to the full. skip SAE level 3, because the handover communications must be intuitive for
between the driver and the machine cannot the driver. The system must choose a
All types of sensors are needed for be clearly defined. What are your thoughts driving strategy that is safe for the occu-
autonomous driving in order to ensure on this problem? pants of the car and other road users in
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