Products for Passenger Cars
ZF ProAI ZF ProAI

ZF ProAI: The Source of Vehicle Intelligence

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The intelligence of future vehicles will be controlled by a few extremely powerful central computers like the ZF ProAI. It is the most flexible, scalable and powerful automotive-grade supercomputer on the market.
Jan Wienrich,
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Jan Wienrich has been working as a cross-media publisher at ZF for several years. He is specialized in topics ranging from automated to autonomous driving.
Modern vehicles feature increasingly more software functions. When software combines the intelligence of sensor information with the control of smart actuators, new powerful functions like additional advanced driver assistance systems emerge, which provide more comfort, more safety, or even more range when driving electrically. This is only possible with smart software algorithms. In traditional vehicle architectures, the bits and bytes act mainly in decentralized electronic control units (ECUs). In new and future vehicle platforms, the electric and electronic architecture (E/E architecture) will change dramatically. The computing power and the main software functions will be bundled in a few domain or zone controllers.

The ZF ProAI supercomputer perfectly meets the requirements of the manufacturers for the software-defined vehicles and their new E/E-architectures. It can serve as domain, zone or central controller.
“ZF ProAI is currently the most flexible, scalable, and powerful automotive grade supercomputer in the world,” said Oliver Briemle, Head of AD Components and Connectivity at ZF.
The high-performance computer is suitable for any vehicle type and for all levels of automated and autonomous driving: from Level 2 to Level 5.
Supercomputer ZF ProAI

New Multi-Domain Capable Edition of ZF ProAI 

New Multi-Domain Capable Edition of ZF ProAI 

At CES 2023, ZF presented a new multi-domain-capable edition of the high-performance computer. With several individual performance boards that can be connected to a common board, the central computer will also be multi-domain capable in the future. This means the ProAI can combine and process various domain functions - such as ADAS, chassis, infotainment, etc. - in a single control unit. 
Each of the individual boards can be equipped with microprocessors from different providers as well as different operating systems at the same time - such as QNX for ADAS or Android Auto for infotainment functions. All boards are networked with each other via interfaces from the central board. The respectively used software per board can thus also be converted into a multi-domain structure and, thanks to the modular and flexible design, the ZF ProAI can thus be individually tailored to the requirements of each customer. 
New Multi-Domain Capable Edition of ZF ProAI

Standardization meets scalability

Standardization meets scalability

Customized high-performance solutions for vehicle intelligence, suitable to any vehicle platform, but based on a single product – that’s the ZF ProAI.
“When developing the ZF ProAI, we paid particular attention to two things: standardization and scalability. Because this simplifies the choice immensely when selecting ZF ProAI as the central computer for a vehicle: No matter what the application needs are – ZF has the ideal solution,” said Briemle.
Standardization and flexibility are also key for the microprocessors and the connectors: The modular set-up of the supercomputer means it can be equipped with System-on-Chip (SoC) variants from all renowned manufacturers – depending on the planned application and the computing power required. And of course the connectors are compatible with all common plugs on the market.
ZF also relies on the highest level of flexibility when it comes to software. In addition to ZF's own solutions like Middleware or functions, the supercomputer can also be equipped with software from OEMs or third-party providers. Depending on the desired performance, three cooling options are available: passive cooling, air cooling and liquid cooling. The installation dimensions remain the same: In its standard version, the ZF ProAI has a compact housing size of only 24 x 14 x 5 centimeters (the size of the multi-domain variant is 30 x 15 x 5 centimeters) and thus requires only little installation space in the vehicle.
ZF ProAI Standard Board

More performance, less power consumption

More performance, less power consumption

The ZF ProAI also comes with more performance than ever before. Depending on the desired application from Level 2 to Level 5 and the corresponding computing power required, ZF ProAI can execute between 20 trillion and 1.5 quadrillion computing steps per second, an increase of 50 percent compared to the previous high-end version.
And while performance increases, power consumption drops even more: With 1 watt of power, the ProAI achieves a performance of approximately 5 TOPS. And, as an automotive grade product, the high-tech product works reliably even under harsh conditions such as extreme temperatures or dust. It also offers an ASIL-D computing performance with state-of-the-art protection against cyber threats.
Enabling new vehicle functions and tapping their full potential: The AI-capabilities of ZF ProAI are optimized for deep learning processes, further enhancing its ability to deliver advanced safety features. The board offers a 360° GPU-driven fusion of all available sensor data, including environmental measurement data from radars, LiDARs, cameras and audio patterns.
In addition, ZF also provides a measurement data interface (MDI) for ProAI in order to forward the collected sensor data unaltered to a central storage system for development and testing purposes. This makes it much easier for developers to train artificial intelligence for autonomous driving.
The ZF ProAI portfolio of high-performance computers is fully industrialized and ready for the market. 14 million units have already been ordered, further growth is expected. Delivery is scheduled to begin in 2024.

ZF ProAI Product Overview