Association for Standardisation of Automation and Measuring Systems

The Association for Standardisation of Automation and Measuring Systems, commonly known as ASAM or ASAM e.V., is a German registered association that coordinates the creation, maintenance and adoption of technical standards for automotive development and testing. Its members include vehicle manufacturers, major suppliers, engineering-service companies, software vendors, universities and research institutions. The organization is not a conventional product company: its principal outputs are standards, specifications, schemas, application programming interfaces, protocols, reference implementations and related technical materials. ASAM emerged from a practical problem in the automotive industry. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, measurement, calibration, diagnostics and test-automation systems were frequently proprietary or developed as isolated in-house solutions. Incompatible data formats and interfaces made it difficult to transfer information between tools, reuse engineering work and combine products from different vendors. In 1991, development executives from Audi, BMW, Daimler-Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen formed the Arbeitskreis zur Standardisierung von Applikationssystemen, abbreviated ASAP, to address these interoperability problems. Suppliers participated from the outset as equal partners, helping ensure that proposed standards reflected both vehicle manufacturers’ requirements and the implementation realities faced by technology providers. The standardization effort was reinforced by the European Union-funded STAUMECS project in 1996. As the portfolio and significance of the work expanded, ASAM e.V. was founded in Stuttgart on December 1, 1998. The association then became responsible for the legal ownership and public representation of the standards, coordination of project work, member administration and promotion of worldwide adoption. ASAM standards are intended to support continuous data exchange across the vehicle development lifecycle. They cover the description and exchange of measurement and calibration data, diagnostic systems, electronic control-unit networks, software-development artifacts, automated tests, simulation environments and large-scale engineering data. The standards can define file formats, APIs, communication protocols, technology mappings and application-specific extensions. Their design principles include independence from particular hardware platforms and operating systems, explicit treatment of both syntax and semantics, object-oriented modeling and separation of logical data definitions from physical storage. The association’s best-known areas include measurement and calibration, ECU diagnostics, ECU-network descriptions, test automation, data management and analysis, and the OpenX family of simulation standards for virtual testing of automated-driving functions. These specifications are intended to let tools from different suppliers interoperate without repeated customer-specific conversions or integrations. In turn, this can create a broader market for suppliers, reduce development and maintenance effort, and protect investments in engineering processes and toolchains. ASAM is governed through a General Assembly, a Board of Directors and a Technical Steering Committee. Member voting rights are linked to annual membership fees. The Board manages the association and represents it in legal and public matters, while the Technical Steering Committee reviews proposals, monitors project groups and approves technical deliverables within its remit. Member-led project groups perform the substantive standards work, supported by the ASAM office and assigned technology managers. Proposed projects pass through an issue-proposal and review process before approval, and completed deliverables undergo technical and member review before publication. The association has approximately 400 member companies worldwide, according to the referenced encyclopedia material. Membership provides access to ASAM standards and tools, participation in their development and the ability to propose changes or new projects. Although automotive companies form the core constituency, ASAM’s standards also have relevance to engineering services, software development, research, testing and emerging automated-driving workflows. ASAM works alongside organizations such as ISO, SAE International and AUTOSAR, while maintaining its own member-driven standards portfolio.

ASAM’s origins lie in the automotive industry’s growing dependence on electronic control units, computerized measurement systems and automated testing during the late twentieth century. By the end of the 1980s, manufacturers and suppliers were using numerous specialized tools, but many of those tools relied on proprietary interfaces, formats and internal data models. The resulting fragmentation increased the effort required to move measurement results, calibration information and test descriptions between systems. It also limited the ability of manufacturers and suppliers to combine products from different technology providers. In response, development leaders from Audi, BMW, Daimler-Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen established the Arbeitskreis zur Standardisierung von Applikationssystemen, or ASAP, in 1991. The initiative was notable for involving suppliers as equal participants rather than treating standardization as an exclusively manufacturer-led activity. Supplier participation brought implementation expertise into the process and helped align standards with commercially available tools and services. The work expanded during the 1990s. In 1996, the European Union-funded STAUMECS project provided additional momentum for standardization in measurement and automation systems. As the number of specifications and participating organizations increased, the participants created a formal legal structure. ASAM e.V. was founded in Stuttgart on December 1, 1998, becoming responsible for holding and representing the standards, organizing their development and encouraging adoption beyond the original group of German vehicle manufacturers. The association’s model is based on member participation. Automotive manufacturers and suppliers use standards in their own development processes, while software companies and engineering-service providers implement them in commercial tools and services. Universities and research institutes can contribute research and application knowledge. Members pay annual fees related to company size and receive access to ASAM products, including standards and tools. They can also submit proposals, comment on draft work and participate in project groups. ASAM’s technical portfolio developed around the interfaces and data structures needed across the vehicle lifecycle. Measurement and calibration specifications address ECU variables, parameters, metadata and calibration workflows. Diagnostic standards describe diagnostic subsystems and their testing. ECU-network specifications support the representation and testing of vehicle communication networks. Software-development work addresses the formal description of ECU software, change requests, model-based development and aspects of functional-safety engineering. Test-automation standards provide interfaces and formats for sensors, actuators, measurement and calibration systems, hardware-in-the-loop environments and design-of-experiments systems. As engineering data volumes increased, ASAM also expanded into data management and analysis for information generated in simulation, testing, production and vehicle operation. Its simulation work, commonly associated with the ASAM OpenX family, addresses virtual development and testing of automated-driving functions. These standards are designed to support fully virtual workflows as well as hybrid arrangements combining physical and simulated components. ASAM’s standards generally distinguish technology-independent concepts from technology-specific implementations. Depending on the use case, a deliverable may specify a file format, an API, a communication protocol, a technology reference, an application-area companion or a transport-layer implementation. Common design goals include platform independence, explicit semantics and syntax, object-oriented modeling and independence from the physical storage method. Governance is shared among the General Assembly, the Board of Directors, the Technical Steering Committee and project groups. The General Assembly approves major organizational decisions and elects governing bodies on a rotating two-year schedule. The Board is responsible for operational, financial, legal and strategic oversight. The Technical Steering Committee evaluates proposals, follows project progress and approves technical work. Project groups, open to participating member companies, perform the detailed development with administrative and technical support from the ASAM office. The association is headquartered in Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn near Munich. It cooperates with other standards organizations, including ISO, SAE International and AUTOSAR, while retaining its own member-led process and portfolio. Its continuing role is to reduce toolchain fragmentation and support interoperable development practices as vehicles become increasingly software-defined, connected and automated.

• 1998

  ASAM e.V. founded

  [1]Association for Standardisation of Automation and Measuring Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  ASAM e.V. was founded in Stuttgart on December 1, creating a formal association responsible for coordinating, representing and promoting the standards.

• 1996

  STAUMECS project accelerates standardization

  [1]Association for Standardisation of Automation and Measuring Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  The European Union-funded STAUMECS project helped accelerate work on standards for measurement and test automation.

• 1991

  ASAP working group established

  [1]Association for Standardisation of Automation and Measuring Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  Development executives from Audi, BMW, Daimler-Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen formed the Arbeitskreis zur Standardisierung von Applikationssystemen to address incompatible automotive measurement and application-system interfaces.

A member-driven, manufacturer- and technology-independent standards organization focused on interoperability across automotive engineering, testing and simulation toolchains.

• Automotive engineering standards

  Measurement & Calibration standards

  Specifications for working with ECU variables and parameters, including access to ECU-memory data, metadata descriptions, file-based data storage and descriptions of calibration processes. They are intended to help calibration and measurement tools exchange information consistently across manufacturers and suppliers.

• Automotive diagnostics

  Diagnostics standards

  Standards for describing and testing diagnostic subsystems in electronic devices and vehicle systems. They provide common structures and interfaces for representing diagnostic information and supporting tool interoperability.

• Vehicle communication networks

  ECU Networks standards

  Specifications for describing and testing networks that connect electronic control units. The standards address the representation of network behavior and related test activities, helping different engineering tools work with common network descriptions.

• Automotive software engineering

  Software Development standards

  Standards supporting ECU software development, formal software descriptions, change-request specifications, model-based development and documentation of relationships between functional-safety designs and system architectures.

• Automotive test automation

  Test Automation standards

  APIs and formats for test systems, including programmatic access to sensors and actuators, measurement and calibration systems, hardware-in-the-loop systems, design-of-experiments systems and test descriptions.

• Engineering data management

  Data Management & Analysis standards

  Specifications for storing, retrieving and analyzing large data volumes generated during simulation, testing, production and vehicle operation. The area addresses the need to manage data consistently across development and validation workflows.

• Automotive simulation

  ASAM OpenX standards

  A family of simulation-oriented standards for virtual development and testing of automated-driving functions. The standards are intended to support virtual, physical and hybrid testing workflows and interoperability among simulation tools.

1. 1Association for Standardisation of Automation and Measuring Systemsen.wikipedia.org
2. 2ASAM official websiteasam.net