Webinar: Testing Cars That Don’t Exist (Yet): Extending the Automotive Software Factory with Virtual ECUs

Software factories have transformed automotive software development through automation, continuous integration, and rapid feedback cycles, yet achieving the same level of automation and continuous validation across the entire vehicle remains a major challenge. However, by creating complete virtual vehicles, engineering teams can test and validate complex software earlier and faster.

This 30-minute webinar will explore how electronics digital twins (eDTs) — which combine virtual ECUs (vECUs) with their surrounding virtual environment including models, simulation assets, and system context — extend the automotive software factory beyond individual components into continuous vehicle-level integration, testing, and validation. By automatically creating vECUs, assembling complete virtual vehicles, deploying them in cloud-native software-in-the-loop (SIL) environments, and integrating an automotive test harness, engineering teams can validate complex software earlier, faster, and with significantly less dependency on physical hardware.

Attendees will see how a complete virtual vehicle can be brought up on demand and used for debugging, regression testing, and continuous validation. The session will demonstrate how scalable, containerized virtual vehicle environments accelerate software-defined vehicle development — from developer desktops to enterprise CI/CD pipelines.

An audience Q&A session will follow the technical presentation.

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Speakers:

Markus Helmling, Senior and Product Manager – SIL Kit, Vector Informatik GmbH

Markus Helmling is a Senior Manager and Product Manager for SIL Kit within the Testing, Verification & Validation business unit at Vector Informatik GmbH, which he joined in 2012. In this role, Markus is responsible for the development of software testing solutions in and around the CANoe product. He previously held positions in both the automotive supplier industry and building technology sectors. Markus holds a degree in electrical engineering and information technology from Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences.

Kevin Brand, Senior Architect, Synopsys

Kevin Brand is a Senior Architect for Synopsys, who has worked in the virtual prototyping field for 20 years. With a strong focus on automotive, he has concentrated on technology deployment and product management in recent years, directly enabling and deploying virtual prototyping solutions at semiconductor, Tier 1, and OEM companies. He holds a master’s degree in electronic engineering from Napier University and previously worked in the aerospace and defense domain.

Moderator:

Amanda Hosey, Editor, SAE Media Group

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