TU Ilmenau leads international research project for software-defined vehicle security

The Technische Universität Ilmenau has assumed leadership of DETROID, an international research project aimed at enhancing the safety and reliability of software-defined vehicles. The project, which runs from October 2026 to September 2030, is funded by the European Union with approximately 696,000 euros.

DETROID involves a collaboration between 15 universities and companies across ten countries, including participants from Europe, Japan, Australia, and Vietnam. The initiative focuses on developing dependable software-defined vehicles with resilient powertrain and chassis dynamics, ensuring that modern vehicles function reliably even under difficult conditions or technical disturbances.

In a related area of automotive security research, scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are investigating vulnerabilities in driver assistance systems. Their research demonstrates how optical sensors, such as cameras and LiDAR, can be manipulated. For instance, using a specialized polycarbonate film with microscopic prism structures can deflect light by 20 degrees, causing a vehicle to misperceive the position of objects or lanes. This can lead to critical errors, such as a vehicle inadvertently entering oncoming traffic. The goal of such studies is to develop methods for vehicles to detect and mitigate these types of sensor manipulations.