Design Article
Rapid development and reusable design for the connected car
Kristopher Cieplak, QNX CAR Senior Developer, QNX Software Systems
1/10/2011 11:01 AM EST
It takes years of design, development and tooling before a new vehicle start of production, while new consumer devices and applications come to market with relentless frequency. And buyers now expect their in-vehicles to keep up. Just as they now expect their cell phones and handhelds to support new applications and easy upgrades to new technologies, they will soon expect their in-vehicle systems to download and integrate the latest consumer applications, adopt next-generation technologies and interface with new consumer devices.
Discordant development cycles
The problem for automobile manufacturers is rather different than for makers of consumer devices such as cell phones and media players, however. Not only do automobiles cost significantly more than these devices, but they must work — and work well — for far longer. A cell phone or a media player may work for 10 years, but few people hold on to them for more than a year or two. They are relatively inexpensive, and consumers have shown themselves more than willing to replace them in order to update to a newer technology, or even simply to accompany a change in wardrobe.
Few people are willing — or can afford — to replace a $30,000 vehicle to upgrade a media player or refresh the look and feel of their digital dashboard. Few are even willing to accept the inconvenience of bringing their car in to a dealership. Cars are supposed to last, but, paradoxically, they must now also support consumer applications and technologies that in some cases may not even be available when a car is sold.
Bumper to bumper responsibility
Automobile manufacturers assume and maintain responsibility for the quality of their vehicles — from bumper to bumper. This responsibility includes the consumer technologies in their vehicles.
If an in-vehicle video player fails, or even if it cannot be updated to support a new and popular codec, it is to the automobile manufacture that car buyers will turn; and it is their vehicles’ brands and reputations that will suffer if the issue is not satisfactorily resolved. Automobile manufacturers must, therefore, have a viable long term strategy that ensures, not only the continued reliability of the consumer technologies in their vehicles, but also that these technologies can be easily and inexpensively updated through the entire life cycles of their vehicles.
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sw_engr
1/11/2011 10:21 AM EST
see http://swengr.blogspot.com/ "my head stuck in the computer" for other thoughts on what would seem to be a similar framework - although not production quality.
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selinz
1/11/2011 7:08 PM EST
THis is a very interesting (and ambitious) approach to providing media functionality in cars of varying degrees. The standard Smartphone now makes music, navigation, and hands free phone available to the motorist in varying degrees of sophistication. This ranges from a bluetooth bridge to a direct dock. Should motor and drive train computing should be separate from any entertainment? One could make an argument either way. It will be interesting to see where things go...
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Duane Benson
1/14/2011 11:26 AM EST
I can see this as being a very advantageous approach to auto electronics. I'd like to see interchangeable hardware as well. With OS standards and hardware standards, long-term maintenance of electronified vehicles could potentially become financially viable.
These days, if the computer dies on your ten-year-old car, the repair bill will likely exceed the value of the car. If a future modular computer died, the repair shop could buy any standard part, upload the correct parameter table into flash and send you on your way.
Some folks would maintain that doing this would not be possible because each and every part in a car is engineered for maximum space, function and integration efficiency. That a standard computer would do everything so-so and nothing well. I would maintain that there are examples of other standard devices in cars that have specific parameters adapted to the application.
There are a lot of varieties of batteries, tires and lights, but no where near as many batteries, tires and lights as there are different vehicle models. A standard computer could have even fewer varieties due to its programmability. That leaves the mechanical constraints, with doesn't seem to be a problem with standard batteries and such.
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