Embedded chips and connected car news tips this week feature Google, Nissan, Toyota, Honda, VW, Intel, Infineon, TomTom and HARMAN.
Self-driving Autonomous Chips: Google, Nissan, Toyota Honda
Google in Michigan
Google is readying a self-driving technology development center in Novi, MI.
The facility will help Google to collaborate more easily and access Michigan’s top talent in vehicle development and engineering. At this 53,000 sq ft development center, engineers, working with local partners, will further develop and refine self-driving technology. One of the first tasks will be to ready the Gogle self-driving Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans. Google will begin moving in throughout 2016.
Nissan’s ProPilot
Nissan’s ProPilot autonomous drive technology was on display Thursday at the G7 summit in Ise-shima, Japan
Nissan will introduce the ProPilot autonomous drive technology in a model in Japan later this year, and then expand availability to Europe, United States and China. ProPilot 1.0 can be used in congested highway traffic conditions.
By 2018, the company plans to implement a multiple-lane, ProPilot autonomous drive technology that allows highway lane change, while by 2020, the new technology will facilitate driving on urban roads, including intersections.
Toyota’s Urban Teammate
Toyota offered test drives of an experimental vehicle featuring a newly developed automated driving system, Urban Teammate, during the 42nd G7 Summit in Ise-Shima, to be held on May 26 and 27.
In keeping with the philosophy behind Toyota’s Mobility Teammate Concept―a unique approach to automated driving that stresses the importance of a partner-like relationship between people and cars―the Urban Teammate system was created to test the application of automated driving technologies on ordinary roads.
Urban Teammate is Toyota’s successor to Highway Teammate, which was unveiled in October last year. Highway Teammate was developed exclusively to enable vehicles to handle every aspect of highway driving without assistance, including negotiating on-ramps and exit ramps.
Honda Automated Drive
Honda is showing CLARITY FUEL CELL, Honda’s fuel cell vehicle, and AUTOMATED DRIVE, an autonomous development vehicle, for the Group of Seven (G7) Summit.
VW Gets Gett
The Volkswagen Group opens the way for new mobility concepts with a significant USD 300 million stake in Gett. On the map with over 60 cities worldwide, Gett is one of the fastest growing ride hailing providers in the mobility-on-demand area. Based on a joint strategy, according on-demand mobility services will be further expanded.
Through the Gett app consumers can, at the touch of a button, book on-demand rides instantly or pre-book rides for later. Besides transportation, Gett covers innovative delivery and logistics. Constantly evolving, Gett’s technology leverages big data, cutting-edge predictive algorithms, and artificial intelligence. It therefore serves as the foundation for a viable on-demand autonomous car operation.
Intel Buys Itseez
May 25, Intel signed a definitive agreement to acquire Itseez Inc., an expert in Computer Vision (CV) algorithms and implementations for embedded and specialized hardware. Itseez contributes software tuning and integration in many market-leading products shipping today from cars to security systems and more. This acquisition furthers Intel’s efforts to win in IoT market segments like automotive and video, where the ability to electronically perceive and understand images paves the way for innovation and opportunity.
Itseez will become a key ingredient for Intel’s Internet of Things Group (IOTG) roadmap, and will help Intel’s customers create innovative deep-learning-based CV applications like autonomous driving, digital security and surveillance, and industrial inspection. Itseez is also a key contributor to computer vision standards initiatives including OpenCV and OpenVX. Together, we’ll step up our contribution to these standards bodies – defining a technology bridge that helps the industry move more quickly to OpenVX-based products.
Infineon Partnering with imec
The world-leading nanoelectronics research center imec and semiconductor manufacturer Infineon Technologies announced that they are cooperating in CMOS sensor chip development. Based on the agreement unveiled at the annual Imec Technology Forum in Brussels (ITF Brussels 2016), Infineon and imec are working on highly integrated CMOS-based 79 GHz sensor chips for automotive radar applications. Imec contributes its advanced expertise in high-frequency system, circuit and antenna design for radar applications thus complementing Infineon’s radar sensor chip knowledge.
As an important step towards the fully automated car, the development of a first demonstrator in 28 nm CMOS technology is well under way. Infineon and imec expect functional CMOS sensor chip samples in the third quarter of 2016. A complete radar system demonstrator is scheduled for the beginning of 2017.
Typically, there are up to three radar systems in today’s vehicle equipped with driver assistance functions. In the future, with fully automated cars up to ten radar systems and ten more sensor systems using camera or lidar technologies may potentially be utilized.
TomTom Jam Ahead!
TomTom Jam Ahead Warnings* are now available on the free** TomTom Speed Cameras app for Android™.
TomTom Jam Ahead Warnings visually and audibly alert drivers to rapidly slowing, or stationary, traffic on the highway ahead, giving the driver the opportunity to brake smoothly, and in time.
The TomTom Speed Cameras app is already available in 16 countries, and today launches in a further 26. Drivers around the world rely on the app to deliver highly accurate Fixed and Mobile camera alerts in real-time, as well as Average Speed Cameras.
The locations of fixed cameras are provided by TomTom’s highly accurate database, and verified by a TomTom moderation team, while mobile speed cameras are reported and verified by a community of over 5 million drivers.
O Soli Ara- Sings HARMAN & Google
HARMAN and Google announced a new audio partnership at Google I/O 2016.
This extended collaboration between HARMAN and Google will include modules for Google’s new modular mobile device, Ara. In addition, HARMAN and Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects Group (ATAP) are also working closely together on Project Soli. Soli uses radar to enable new types of touchless interactions, one where the human hand becomes a natural, intuitive interface for devices. The Soli sensor can track sub-millimeter motions at high speed and accuracy to enable precise and effortless hand gestures.
Discount Code for TU-Automotive Detroit
The TU-Automotive Detroit 2016 (June 8-9, Novi Michigan), conference and exhibition for automotive technology and connected cars is offering a vast program of speakers, topics and trends. AUTO Connected Car readers can get a $100 discount using the code 4312ACCAR.
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