This presentation describes an effort to commonize the software interfaces among embedded subsystem controllers in Ford Motor Company cars and trucks. We set out initially to reduce the variation in powertrain control system interfaces so that sharing hybrid and non-hybrid powertrains (engines, transmissions, and optionally electric machines and high-voltage batteries) across vehicles, brands, and regions would be easier and faster. The scope expanded to include other domains as well—chassis, body, climate, driver information, etc. The presentation provides a view of some challenges in re-architecting these control-system interfaces within organizational and legacy-system constraints and some lessons learned on how to address those challenges.

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PRESENTATION