Drive-by-wire systems for autonomous driving: How Roland Arnold is redefining mobility

Roland Arnold transformed a small tractor garage in Aichelau, Swabia into a global company and revolutionized the automotive world with "drive-by-wire." What began as a visionary solution for people with disabilities evolved into a pivotal industrial technology: drive-by-wire systems for autonomous vehicles. Arnold's life's work demonstrates how a positive attitude and technical excellence can drive innovation and make mobility more inclusive, safer, and independent.

Through the development of the Space Drive drive-by-wire system, Arnold has given people with severe physical disabilities the freedom to drive again. He has also created a key technology for the future of the automotive industry. Originally developed as a customizable driving and steering system for mobility assistance, the Space Drive system is now considered a critical component of autonomous driving technology. It is fail-safe, street-legal, and in use worldwide. People with disabilities are already driving on public roads with the same technology that will be required for future highly automated and autonomous Level 5 vehicles.

From the workshop floor to a world first.

The beginning? It was unspectacular, and that's precisely what makes it significant. In the early 1980s, Arnold set up a small workshop in an old tractor garage on his brother's farm. They sold tires, did bodywork, and had hardly any capital. But later, they had an idea that was bigger than the garage itself. In 1997, when he helped a paraplegic man get into his car, compassion turned into an entrepreneurial vision. In 1998, he started converting vehicles to make them accessible for people with disabilities. In 2005, he founded Paravan GmbH with the clear goal of redefining mobility for people with disabilities.

In 2003, Roland Arnold became the first person in the world to receive road approval for an electronic drive-bywire system, marking a significant milestone. He developed the first version of "Space Drive," patented it in 2005, and brought it to market with TÜV approval. This created the first electronic driving and steering system without a mechanical connection between the steering unit and the steering gear. It marked the beginning of a technological revolution that extends far beyond mobility for people with disabilities.

From Inclusion to Innovation in Industry

Renowned OEMs and major suppliers in the automotive industry have also taken notice of Arnold's drive-bywire technology. They equip their concept and test vehicles with Space Drive to test autonomous driving functions under real-world conditions, which was made possible by the world's first road approval of such a system. In 2013, the Würth Group acquired a stake in Paravan. For Roland Arnold, this marked the beginning of a decisive phase in which he drove forward the further development of Space Drive II, making it increasingly clear that a key technology for autonomous driving was emerging. The new system is triple redundant, meets the highest safety standard (ISO 26262 ASIL D), is fail-operational, and, in 2013, received TÜV and road approvals in accordance with ECE R10, R13, and R79. Space Drive II is the first drive-by-wire system worldwide to meet the automotive industry's strict requirements, a decisive step toward industrialization.

In 2018, Arnold bought back Würth's shares and founded the joint venture "Schaeffler Paravan Technologie GmbH & Co. KG” with Schaeffler. The goal is to produce a highly secure steer-by-wire steering system for highly automated and autonomous vehicle applications on a large scale. Despite considerable progress, however, the project ultimately failed due to corporate bureaucracy.

To push the technology to its physical limits, Arnold is bringing Space Drive into motorsports. To date, he is the only person to receive approval from the German Motor Sport Federation (DMSB) to use a drive-by-wire system in professional racing. It is being tested under extreme conditions in series such as the DTM and the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, where it is scoring points. This data is then used to further develop Space Drive, making it one of the most rigorously tested drive-by-wire systems in the world.

The story continues with Arnold's sons, Kevin and Luca, who founded the start-up "Arnold NextG" in 2021. They are developing a new drive-by-wire system with NX Next Motion that is lean, agile, forward-looking, and street-legal.

At the end of October, Roland Arnold will turn 60 and reflect on a lifetime of work that extends far beyond economic success. Over two billion kilometers have been covered worldwide with Space Drive — by people who would never have been able to drive without it. His systems are a building block for autonomous driving, a door opener for new interior concepts, and a bridge between mobility and inclusion.

Through the Roland and Martina Arnold Foundation, which he established with his wife, Martina, Arnold is committed to helping families with children with disabilities, an area where support is urgently needed.

He has received numerous honors for his achievements, including the Rudolf Diesel Medal (2021), the Order of Merit of the State of Baden-Württemberg (2025), the Economic Medal of the State of Baden-Württemberg (2010), and the German Craftsmanship Award (2005). In 2025, his autobiography Genial gezündet (Brilliantly Ignited) won the Motorworld Book Prize in the biography category. Paravan GmbH is considered one of the most award-winning medium-sized technology companies in Germany.

More than technology remains: the realization that true innovation often arises where no one expects it — in a small hall from a big heart.