Electronics Research Laboratory

Infobox Company
name = Electronics Research Laboratory ("ERL")

"Technology to the People!
type = Private company,
subsidiary of
Volkswagen of America, Inc.
foundation = flagicon|US: Sunnyvale, California, U.S. (August 1998)
founder =
location = Palo Alto, California, U.S.
locations =
area_served = Worldwide,
with North American emphasis [ [http://www.vwerl.com/about/mission.html ERL Mission Statement] ]
key_people = Burkhard Huhnke, Director
industry = Automotive, Electronics
products =
services = Research and development
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
assets =
equity =
owner =
num_employees =
parent = Volkswagen Group
divisions =
subsid =
homepage = [http://www.vwerl.com/ VWERL.com]
footnotes =
intl =

The Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL) is a division of the Volkswagen Group of America, with its headquarters in Silicon Valley (Palo Alto, California).

The ERL's slogan "Technology to the People!" indicates its mission: to leverage Silicon Valley resources for the advancement of the Volkswagen Groups' products through technical knowledge and electronics expertise.

The ERL has recently received media attention surrounding its joint victory with Stanford University in the DARPA Grand Challenge, [ [http://cs.stanford.edu/group/roadrunner/ Stanford Racing Team, 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge] Stanford University] a prize competition for driverless cars.

History

The Electronics Research Laboratory was founded in August 1998, and ERL began operations in October 1998, with three employees. As of December 2002, the lab had outgrown its Sunnyvale, California office, moving to its current Palo Alto location in California. This current location provides a spacious office, workshop and prototyping areas for about 40 workers. It supports ERL employees at Volkswagen Group of America's offices in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and the new headquarters at Herndon, Virginia.

Affiliation

The ERL supports all brands within the Volkswagen Group. [ [http://www.vwerl.com/about/affiliation.html ERL Affiliation] ] This includes Volkswagen, Škoda, Bentley, and Bugatti as well as Audi, SEAT, and Lamborghini. In addition to working with research and development teams in Germany, the ERL also supports the development of U.S.-specific features for the Volkswagen Group of America.

Research "teams" at ERL

The ERL comprises four teams:
* Driver Information and Assistance (DIA) - Instrumentation, visualization systems
* Human Machine Interface (HMI) - Interface concepts for driver assistance, infotainment systems
* Connected Vehicle (CV) - wireless infotainment, collaborative intelligence, distributed computing
* Test Concepts and Validations (TCV) - Testing procedures, specifications compliance

Headquarters

The ERL's headquarters are located in the middle of Silicon Valley at 4009 Miranda Avenue, Suite 150, Palo Alto, California. In 2008, the ERL will expand its operation to a new adjacent facility at 4005 Miranda Avenue, Suite 100.

References

ee also

* List of German cars
* Volkswagen Group
* Volkswagen Group of America

External links

* [http://www.vwerl.com VWERL.com] VW Electronics Research Laboratory official website
* [http://www.volkswagengroupamerica.com VolkswagenGroupAmerica.com] VolkswagenGroup of America, Inc. corporate website
* [http://cs.stanford.edu/group/roadrunner/ Stanford Racing Team]