  A larger number of people with heterogeneous knowledge and skills running a
project together needs an adaptable, target, and skill-specific engineering
process. This especially holds for a project to develop a highly innovative,
autonomously driving vehicle to participate in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge.
In this contribution, we present essential elements of a software and systems
engineering process to develop a so-called artificial intelligence capable of
driving autonomously in complex urban situations. The process itself includes
agile concepts, like a test first approach, continuous integration of all
software modules, and a reliable release and configuration management assisted
by software tools in integrated development environments. However, one of the
most important elements for an efficient and stringent development is the
ability to efficiently test the behavior of the developed system in a flexible
and modular system simulation for urban situations both interactively and
unattendedly. We call this the simulate first approach.
