Driving into the future: a cross-cutting analysis of distributed artificial intelligence, CCAM and the platform economy

Abstract

The future of driving is autonomous. It requires a comprehensive stack of embedded software components, enabled by open-source and proprietary platforms at different abstraction layers, and then operating within a larger ecosystem. Autonomous driving demands connectivity, cooperation and automation to form the cornerstone of autonomous mobility solutions. Platform economy principles have revolutionized the way we produce, deliver and consume products and services worldwide. More and more businesses in the field of mobility and transport appear to implement transaction, innovation, and integration platforms as core enablers for Mobility-as-a-Service and transport applications. Artificial intelligence approaches, especially those dealing with distributed systems, enable new mobility solutions, such as autonomous driving. This paper contributes to understanding the intertwining role between distributed artificial intelligence, autonomous mobility and the resulting platform ecosystem. A systematic literature review is applied, in order to identify the intersection between those aspects. Furthermore, the research project BeIntelli is considered as a hands-on application of our findings. Taking into account our analysis and the aforementioned research project, we pose a blueprint architecture for autonomous mobility. This architecture is the subject of further research. Our conclusions facilitate the development and implementation of future urban transportation systems and resulting mobility ecosystems in practice.