TIER IV and Munich's TUM set up a center for safe open-source driving software

TIER IV and Munich's TUM set up a center for safe open-source driving software

15 October 2026: TIER IV and the Technical University of Munich have announced the TUM Autoware Research Center by TIER IV, a multi-year strategic research collaboration. TIER IV provides the funding, and three TUM research groups take part: the Chair of Automotive Technology, the Professorship of Cyber Physical Systems and the Professorship of Autonomous Vehicle Systems.

Not yet independently verified. The release does not give the size or length of TIER IV's funding, or where the centre will sit in Munich. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

What the centre is for

The goals are to develop safe, scalable autonomous driving systems based on Autoware, to strengthen TUM's position as a leading European contributor to the Autoware community, and to speed up the transfer of research into real-world mobility. The centre is meant as a long-term base for research, open-source development and doctoral training. It will link academic, industrial and public-transport projects and host demonstrations and benchmark challenges.

Three research tracks

Safety pairs deep-learning driving models with rule-based supervision. A verifiable safety guardian would monitor driving behaviour and step in when safety constraints require it.

Evaluation covers benchmarking and verification for component-level and system-level testing across simulation, offline analysis and real-world operation, building on TUM's EDGAR platform and its CommonRoad expertise.

Scalability is a repeatable process for adapting and evaluating Autoware in new environments, with improvements contributed back to open-source projects where appropriate.

EDGAR on the road

TUM's research vehicle EDGAR runs Autoware. At IAA MOBILITY 2025 it gave public demonstration rides from Messe München into downtown Munich, over urban, rural and highway routes in varied traffic.

Within a week, the TUM team had EDGAR deployed in Berlin and demonstrated autonomous operation on urban roads. That demonstration tested, for the German government, a new assessment method for Level 4 autonomous driving in real traffic. It was run with TÜV-Verband, and a state secretary and the chairman of TÜV Nord rode on board.

The European policy backdrop

The release points to the European Commission's concept paper on an open European software-defined vehicle platform. The paper names an open-source strategy, reference implementations, standardised software components and shared validation tools as key foundations for European collaboration and competitiveness.

TIER IV says the centre should support a wider open autonomous driving ecosystem in Germany and Europe and give European vehicle makers technologies and evaluation methods for open, safe, scalable, product-oriented systems.

Voices from both sides

TIER IV founder and chief executive Shinpei Kato said, "Safe autonomous driving at scale requires progress across AI, system architecture, verification and deployment." Johannes Betz, Professor of Autonomous Vehicle Systems at TUM, said the aim is systems that "can scale but are also verifiably safe."

TUM describes itself as one of the world's leading universities, with about 700 professorships, 52,000 students and 13,000 staff, and says about 100 start-ups are founded there each year.

Related on TrustList:

• Wayve signs production deal to put its AI Driver in Mercedes-Benz cars

Sources

• TIER IV: TIER IV and TUM establish Autoware Research Center, 15 October 2026