Abbreviations over abbreviations: What exactly is Car2X?
By this we mean both the communication between vehicles (Car2Car) and the communication between vehicles and their environment. In this way, safety and comfort in road traffic can be significantly increased. Whether short-term road closures or the oil spill behind a curve, if the vehicle user knows in advance what to expect, he arrives more relaxed at his destination. In addition, Car2X services are of course also highly relevant with regard to autonomous driving.
What do you actually do in practice?
Part of our work is, for example, the collection and processing of swarm data. This is done in a so-called traffic dispatcher. Vehicles regularly send their position and certain sensor data to this dispatcher which is then used to generate forecasts, such as traffic jam information. By networking the vehicles with each other, i.e., Car2Car communication, the driver can be given the best possible forecasts, thanks to the Traffic Dispatcher. These are a lot more precise than before. You can imagine it as if cars driving ahead would warn following cars on the same route in real time. Ideally, this would feel completely natural and intuitive to the driver, but the development behind it is very complex. Well, if it were simple, everyone would do it.
And what is your role in this?
When developing the services, I act like a product owner. My main task is therefore the responsibility for delivery towards the customer.
Operationally, I am mainly involved in early project phases, from proposal preparation to team kick-off and the first project iterations. Additionally, I support the customer in all questions and train him regarding our development methods, primarily Scrum. The challenge here is to reconcile the corporate processes with our agile development processes.
What are the requirements for this?
Since I have more of a role between the teams and the customers, I am not part of my own team. Rather, I coordinate with several teams, and for that, you have to be a good team player yourself. An indispensable prerequisite when working cross-functionally in an agile way. One also has to be able to accept that failure is part of success and learn from mistakes as best as possible. But to recognise them, of course, you also need, well, technological knowledge and a passion for innovation and exploration.
Is this what drives you personally?
Car2X services are already crucial for the future of mobility. Especially in a world where the driver is increasingly becoming the user, we want to push developments and really exploit existing potential. The car is increasingly becoming part of the Internet of Things, and this creates great scope for innovative applications between people, cars and society. What motivates me even more about my job is my natural urge to make things work. When one sees one of the services one has been involved in in brochures or on TV and one knows how much work has gone into it, that, of course, makes me proud.
