Autonomous driving

Self-driving cars are coming, Gregor Matenaer and Richard Woller from CMORE are sure of it. And soon. Reading the newspaper behind the wheel or taking a relaxed ride to your holiday destination: for the managing directors of the company CMORE, this has long since become more than just a utopian vision. Developments at car manufacturers are moving in this direction — and CMORE is right in the thick of things. Together with 150 employees, Mr Matenaer and Mr Woller are working to revolutionise road traffic on a daily basis.

"By 2020 at the latest, it will be possible to relinquish control of the car, at least on the motorway," predicts Mr Matenaer. He believes that the new generation of vehicles will be ready for the market by then. There will be no need for drivers to keep their hands on the wheel between the motorway on- and off-ramp. It will take a bit longer to reach this stage in more complex city traffic or on country roads.

The company's website claims: "We are specialists in the development of new automotive electronics systems, as well as in the validation of sensor-based driver assistance and safety systems." Put simply: CMORE develops, tests and validates software systems that will one day be expected to help vehicles make their way through traffic without an active driver.

Using enormous amounts of collected data, algorithms are taught how traffic functions and which solutions are available to which problems. "We train the algorithms and make them think," says Mr Matenaer. For example, by driving along roads with cars full of sensors and cameras that collect data. This makes the systems safer byte by byte. One of these cars can also be found in the CMORE workshop in the basement of the company headquarters in Lindau on Lake Constance. "This is our prototype," says Mr Matenaer.

While other cars have to be kept under lock and key by customers, the black compact car is the company's flagship model — with an exciting body design. Lots of cameras and sensors are mounted on the square metal frame on the roof, some are also hidden behind the window panes. There's a large computer in the boot that records everything. And inside the car, a computer screen shows what data the high-tech vehicle has just stored. "This is a complex system which we also use on the road" — and attract a lot of attention from the people we pass.

Mr Matenaer and Mr Woller, both electrical engineers, first met 14 years ago at their shared employer at the time, Continental-Automotive. In 2011, they ventured into self-employment and founded CMORE – originally as a two-man enterprise. But just one year later, 20 employees were already working for the company's founders. More than 100 women and men are now on their payroll. The managers think it could be as many as 200 by the end of the year. "We have experienced steady and healthy growth," says Mr Woller.

Development gained momentum, particularly in the past year, which is also reflected in the development of turnover: in 2013, this figure was EUR 2.4 million and by 2015, EUR 4.5 million had already flowed into the company. For financial year 2016, the company's books now even show turnover of EUR 9.5 million.

CMORE owes this not least of all to a large-scale project with a southern German automotive manufacturer that started last year and will run for three years. Mr Matenaer and Mr Woller had to rely on the support of their regular bank to get the business off the ground: "We needed all the initial equipment, a new team, vehicles," he says, explaining the dimensions.