According to German Tier 1 supplier ZF, for automated driving, where the driver turns away from active driving and the focus is on comfort, the longitudinal, lateral, and vertical dynamics of a vehicle must be harmoniously coordinated. This is where its cubiX software enters the picture. It manages all chassis systems and makes sure that acceleration and braking are smooth, steering is accurate, and damping is balanced.
The application project was led out of Region Asia Pacific, and the software has been developed at multiple ZF locations worldwide.
The first production vehicles equipped with the new ZF cubiX software went on the road at the beginning of 2023. The Geely Group’s Lotus Eletre electric SUV has been making deliveries to its first customers since February.
The vehicle will be offered in Europe starting in the middle of the year. All chassis operations, including the new sports car’s electric drive and active roll stabilizers, front and rear axle steering, and brakes, are managed by ZF software. Starting in 2023, more innovative ZF software production will begin.
“With the series premiere of our cubiX software, we impressively demonstrate our system competence for vehicle dynamics of software-defined vehicles,” said Andre Engelke, Head of Vehicle Motion Control System House at ZF. According to Lotus’ specifications, we are able to seamlessly control the entire longitudinal, lateral, and vertical dynamics of the vehicle.
ZF says cubiX is an example of a decisive trend on the way to the software-defined vehicle: away from the many individual controls of hardware components, towards overarching domain and zone architectures. This development takes into account the increasing complexity of automotive control software. Until now, dampers, brakes or rear-axle steering have each had their own control unit that has had to be integrated into the overall architecture of the vehicle.
