Designing Audi’s Next-Generation Big Data Platform

Building the cloud-native data foundation to power the future of autonomous mobility

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In partnership with WK-IT, Codetribe built the Various Sensor Data Services (VSDS) project, a cloud-native data intelligence platform that serves as the central nervous system for Audi's automated driving R&D by transforming massive streams of vehicle sensor data into a structured asset. This provides the critical foundation for developing next-gen Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) and future Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication.

Client

Audi

Country

Germany

Market

Globally

Type

Enterprise

Story

In the competitive premium automotive market, Audi is navigating the industry's shift to software-defined digital devices, a transformation backed by the Volkswagen Group's €30 billion investment in digitization. Audi's ambition to lead this charge was hindered by a critical data bottleneck, as the massive volume of sensor data for autonomous driving R&D overwhelmed existing processes and slowed innovation. To succeed, Audi needed a strategic partner to build a scalable data foundation.

Business Impact

Enhancing Driver Safety with Real-Time Hazard Detection

The platform aggregates real-time sensor data from millions of vehicles, using this collective intelligence to detect traffic anomalies and road hazards like sudden slowdowns or obstacles. This information is then processed and relayed as in-car alerts to other drivers in the vicinity, providing advanced warning of potential dangers and significantly enhancing driver safety.

Building the Foundation for a Connected Vehicle Ecosystem

This data platform serves as the foundational "cloud brain" for Audi's Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication strategy. By processing and routing critical data between vehicles in near real-time, it enables a new generation of cooperative driving features, from collision warnings to intelligent traffic flow optimization, positioning Audi as a leader in connected vehicle technology.

Transforming Raw Vehicle Data into a Strategic Asset

The VSDS platform transforms the massive, previously untapped data streams from millions of cars into a core strategic asset. This unlocks a new ecosystem of data-driven services, provides invaluable insights for future vehicle design, and allows for a deeply personalized customer experience, creating new pathways for innovation and revenue.

2M+

Vehicles Powering Live Road Intelligence

Focus Area

Domains

API

Architecture

Cloud Computing

Data Analytics & Visualization

Integrations

Services

System Architecture

Technical Documentation

Industries

Automotive & Mobility

IoT & Connected Devices

Business & Expert Solutions

Tech Stack

Amazon API Gateway

Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS)

Apache Kafka

PostgreSQL

Redis

UML

JSON

REST API

Git

Challenges

The automotive industry generates a massive amount of data, much of which goes unused. Audi recognized a strategic opportunity to harness this dormant asset to pioneer the next generation of mobility. The core challenge was to transform the data already being captured by millions of vehicles on the road into real-time, actionable insights. This required creating a robust big data platform capable of collecting, processing, and distributing information from a vast fleet to the cloud, enabling advanced features for autonomous driving and allowing vehicles to share critical information with each other.

Solutions

To address these challenges, a high-throughput, cloud-native data pipeline was architected using Apache Kafka and AWS to eliminate data latency and create a unified data lakehouse accessible via secure REST APIs. Simultaneously, a unified architectural framework was established by embedding an Architecture Facilitator and implementing standardized governance using the C4 model and ASPICE standards, consolidating all documentation into a single source of truth. This resilient and secure data exchange architecture was designed from the ground up to be future-proof, providing the foundational backbone required for advanced V2X communication and de-risking Audi's long-term technology roadmap.