Best a’ Connected Car news: Tesla 3, Velodyne, Continental, Swift, eyeSight, Bosch Trend Micro, Green Hills & TetraVue

Besides the multiple reveals at AutoMobility LA and The LA Auto Show in connected car news this week were Tesla 3, Velodyne, Continental, Swift, eyeSight, Bosch, Trend Micro, HERE, Green Hills software and TetraVue.

Telsa 3 @LA Auto Show

Those who wonder what the Tesla 3 looks like, can see it at the LA Auto Show in the South Hall directly through the center doors. It looks like a smaller Tesla S.

Navdy Heads Up Goes Bottom Up

Aftermarket Hud maker Navdy is in its get out town phase it is sending General Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors and is an alternative to bankruptcy and liquidating assets. The company has been quiet on social media and stopped responding to customers with problems.

5th Gen LiDAR from Continental

Technology company Continental has now incorporated its extensive, long-standing expertise in vehicle surroundings sensors into the fifth generation of its short- and long-range radar sensors, which will enter series production in 2019. Not only does the new generation have greater capacity, it is also based on a scalable modular principle, which, with its graduated function scopes, flexibly supports vehicle manufacturers’ different requirements and electrical-electronic (E/E) architectures. Thanks to the worldwide trend of using 77 GHz technology, the resolution of the sensors is becoming higher and facilitating, for example, more accurate detection of smaller objects such as a lost spare wheel or an exhaust that has fallen off. With long-range radar, a range of up to 300 m and an opening angle of ±60° are possible in the highest expansion stage depending on the required performance. With short-range radar, precise parking functions can be executed easily for the first time, in addition to functions such as blind spot detection, lane change assist or rear cross traffic alert.

Swift Robotic Duro RTK GNSS Receivers

​Swift ​​Navigation and ​​​Carnegie ​​Robotics ​​LLC ​​(CRL)  ​​announced ​​immediate ​​availability ​​of ​​Duro ​​an ​​extremely ​​rugged, ​​low-cost, ​​centimeter-accurate, dual-frequency ​​RTK ​​GNSS ​​receiver ​​in ​​an ​​easily-deployable ​​enclosure. ​​San ​​Francisco-based ​​Swift Navigation, ​​a ​​tech ​​firm ​​building ​​centimeter-accurate ​​GPS ​​technology ​​to ​​power ​​a ​​world ​​of ​​autonomous vehicles, ​​teamed ​​with ​​Pittsburgh-based ​​CRL​ — ​the ​​industry ​​leader ​​in ​​reliable ​​robotic ​​components ​​and systems​ — ​to ​​develop ​​Duro, ​​which ​​is ​​a ​​ruggedized, ​​enclosed ​​version ​​of ​​Swift ​​Navigation’s ​​flagship ​​Piksi® Multi ​​dual-frequency ​​RTK ​​GNSS ​​receiver. ​​

Built ​​for ​​outdoor ​​operations, ​​Duro ​​combines ​​a ​​rugged ​​enclosure ​​with ​​centimeter-accurate ​​positioning ​​at a ​​breakthrough ​​price. ​​Leveraging ​​design ​​and ​​test ​​standards ​​from ​​military ​​and ​​mining ​​hardware, ​​the GNSS ​​sensor ​​is ​​protected ​​against ​​weather, ​​moisture, ​​vibration, ​​dust, ​​water ​​immersion ​​and ​​EMI ​​exposure typical ​​of ​​long-duration, ​​harsh ​​outdoor ​​deployments. ​​In ​​addition ​​to ​​its ​​ruggedness, ​​Duro ​​is easy-to-deploy ​​and ​​is ​​ready ​​to ​​connect ​​right ​​out ​​of ​​the ​​box. ​​Primary ​​industries ​​for ​​this ​​product ​​include: Autonomous ​​Vehicles, ​​Robotics, ​​Precision ​​Agriculture, ​​Mapping, ​​Military, ​​Outdoor ​​Industrial ​​and Maritime.

eyeSight Tech Get 2 New Patents

eyeSight Technologies, a leader in advanced embedded computer vision and deep learning, has been awarded two new patents: one, referred to as the Direct Pointing Interaction technology, addresses solutions centered around direct pointing detection for interaction with a digital device and displays, and the other offers a solution for the power consumption issue in AR/VR headsets and wearable devices.

Issued in the U.S., eyeSight’s new patent allows users to simply point toward a location of interest through either an AR/VR headset, an object on a display or at a smart home device — i.e. smart TV, smart lights and thermostat — to control it directly. Rather than using a complicated or indirect hand gesture to perform an action, such as lifting a finger upward to get control over a mouse cursor on the display and moving the finger until the cursor reaches a desired icon to be clicked on, the newly patented direct pointing technology can immediately detect the exact location a user is pointing at, making the interaction natural, direct and immediate.

To use for automotive devices such as in future autonomous cars, displays are expected to be located all over the interior of the vehicle. People will no longer be required to be “hands-on” with the wheel, but will be free to look and interact with augmented and displayed content in the car. The Direct Pointing Interaction technology will provide an ideal interaction in these new interiors, allowing users to lean back and point at icons, objects and surrounding points of interest they wish to engage with.

DENSO & NEC to Develop NEXT In-Vehicle Info Systems

DENSO Corporation and NEC Platforms, Ltd., a subsidiary of NEC Corporation,  unveiled a new joint venture, DENSO NEXT CO., LTD. The company will develop in-vehicle information and communications equipment critical for fostering a truly connected environment inside vehicles, such as instrument clusters, head-up displays, and on-board communication equipment. The company will start operations on December 1, 2017.

The recent cockpit innovation and advancement of connected technologies have made communication between products in the cabin more complicated, rapidly increasing the need to develop in-vehicle products more efficiently. DENSO NEXT will harness DENSO’s advanced automotive engineering and manufacturing capabilities, and NEC Group’s advanced technologies and track record in the information and communications technology (ICT) business to quickly design and bring to market advanced in-vehicle equipment.

DENSO NEXT will be located on the premises of NEC’s Tamagawa Plant in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. The innovations developed by DENSO and NEC Platforms engineers will enable DENSO to more efficiently produce existing information and communications equipment, and to create new products in line with vehicle cockpit advancements.

HERE Buys ATS Advanced Telematic Systems

HERE Technologies announced plans to acquire ATS Advanced Telematic Systems, a Germany-based software company developing highly secure over-the-air (OTA) software updating technology for the automotive industry.

The planned acquisition will strengthen HERE’s position as the world’s leading provider of location data and cloud services for vehicles.

ATS’ flagship OTA solution is aligned with Uptane, the OTA security framework initiated and funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Uptane is the most comprehensive security framework available to defend attacks on updates for connected cars. ATS is also a member of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), and a key contributor to the development of OTA inside GENIVI and Automotive Grade Linux (AGL).

HERE plans to continue to develop and offer ATS’ OTA technology as a standalone product within its automotive portfolio, while also extending the benefits of the technology to other aspects of its business. In future, the technology could also support secure map and software updates to drones and other connected devices.

Bosch Cross Domain XDK Sensor Platform

Bosch Connected Devices and Solutions will be presenting numerous innovations and further developments regarding the Cross Domain Development Kit XDK. The XDK is a sensor platform which enables the quick and flexible development of prototypes as well as new applications for the (IoT) Internet of Things. The new XDK Live programming language which is being provided by the Eclipse Foundation (www.eclipse.org) as an open source project, simplifies the programming of the IoT kit even further. The company has also implemented the secure connection to the Bosch IoT Cloud. Independent experts have confirmed the high security of the cloud integration. Bosch Connected Devices and Solutions has compiled a range of attractive offers for integrators. The XDK ecosystem will also continue to grow: the partners LEM and Sigfox are presenting new extension modules that underline the acceptance of the XDK in the IoT environment. In a compact box (form factor 60 x 40 x 22 mm), the XDK combines a variety of MEMS sensors (acceleration, rotation rate, magnetic field, humidity, air pressure, temperature, ambient volume, digital light sensor) with a powerful processor for the analysis, processing and transmission of the sensor data. Whether it’s for a Smart Factory, Predictive Maintenance, Monitoring or Retrofitting: The XDK can be deployed universally.

Trend Micro Supports Mentor

Trend Micro  announced that Trend Micro IoT Security supports Mentor Automotive ConnectedOS™ from Mentor, a Siemens business. Mentor Automotive ConnectedOS™ is deployed in many in-vehicle infotainment systems (IVI) and driver information systems (Cluster) for a variety of automotive manufacturers.

With IoT Security supporting Mentor Automotive ConnectedOS, developers are able to build in security from the start and ensure it is not just an afterthought.”

Trend Micro IoT Security is a security solution for IoT devices connecting outside the vehicle with IP communications on general purpose operating systems. It reduces security risks by adopting the solution in the design and development stage. This provides better overall security for the connected car due to vulnerable holes that occur with bolted on security measures, which allow attackers access to the system.

smart is ready to drop packages in cars in Hamburg

smart is further expanding its innovative logistics service: in future “smart ready to drop+” will enable parcels to be delivered to the boot of a smart wherever the vehicle is located. Further advantages: almost all products from any shop can be ordered. Up until shortly before delivery customers can decide when and where the parcel should be delivered. To this end a new pilot test is taking place together with the cooperation partner Liefery in Hamburg.

Now smart is going a further step in a pilot project in Hamburg by enabling the smart to be used as a fully mobile postbox. For the delivery process the vehicle no longer needs to be parked near the home address; parcels can be delivered by Liefery to wherever the vehicle is located in Hamburg.

MIPI Specs for Image Sensors

The MIPI Alliance, an international organization that develops interface specifications for mobile and mobile-influenced industries, today released a new specification that provides a standardized way to integrate image sensors in mobile-connected devices.

The new specification, MIPI Camera Command Set v1.0 (MIPI CCS v1.0), defines a standard set of functionalities for implementing and controlling image sensors. The specification is offered for use with MIPI Camera Serial Interface 2 v2.0 (MIPI CSI-2 v2.0) and is now available for download. In an effort to help standardize use of MIPI CSI-2, MIPI Alliance membership is not required to access the specification.

MIPI CSI-2 is the industry’s most widely used hardware interface for deploying camera and imaging components in mobile devices. The introduction of MIPI CCS to MIPI CSI-2 further increases interoperability, and reduces integration and costs for complex imaging and vision systems.

New 128 LiDAR from Velodyne

Velodyne LiDAR   announced its new VLS-128 LiDAR sensor for the rapidly expanding autonomous vehicle market. Featuring an industry-leading 128 laser channels, the VLS-128 is an extreme step forward in LiDAR vision systems, featuring the trifecta of highest resolution, longest range, and the widest surround field-of-view of any LiDAR system available.

Velodyne’s new flagship model has a 10 times higher resolving power than the HDL-64, allowing it to see objects more clearly, while its highly accurate object identification and detection system can provide superior collision avoidance in a moving car.

The VLS-128 technology provides three major advances for autonomous driving: A reduction in vision system compute complexity, highway driving, and robotic assembly of the sensor itself.

  • The VLS-128’s high-resolution data can also be used directly for object detection without additional sensor fusion, which improves the safety and redundancy of the autonomous vehicle’s compute function and reduces overall compute complexity.
  • With its long range and high-resolution data, the VLS-128 allows autonomous vehicles to function equally as well in highway scenarios and low-speed urban environments. It is designed to solve for all corner cases needed for full autonomy in highway scenarios, allowing for expanded functionality and increased testing in new environments.
  • Based on mass-produced semiconductor technologies, the VLS-128 is designed for automated assembly in Velodyne’s Megafactory using a proprietary laser alignment and manufacturing system to meet the growing global demand for LiDAR-based vision systems./

4D LiDAR from TetraVue

TetraVue, the leader in high definition 4D LIDAR technology, today announced that KLA Tencor, Lam Research and Tsing Capital have joined existing investors Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH, Samsung Catalyst Fund and Nautilus Ventures in providing additional funding to the company. TetraVue technology is radically different from current LIDAR approaches, merging the resolution of HD video with range data to enable the industry’s first long-range, 4D motion capture. It is the first 4D camera technology that captures real-time images with depth perception down to each pixel, allowing it to transform markets including autonomous vehicles, machine vision and factory automation.

TetraVue cameras uniquely merge digital video with LIDAR technology by capturing multi-megapixel images at up to 30 frames per second with accurate depth for each individual pixel. As a result, a TetraVue camera has the ability to process 100x more real-time data describing object location and motion in the surrounding environment.

With orders of magnitude more real-time spatial data about the surrounding environment from TetraVue cameras, advanced driver assist and autonomous driving systems are empowered to make faster and safer driving decisions. TetraVue is initially focused on the automotive market and is working with key partners to bring 4D LIDAR technology to market.

TetraVue will be demonstrating its technology at CES 2018

Green Hills RTOS for NXP

Green Hills Software has announced the availability of the safe and secure INTEGRITY® real-time operating system (RTOS) and supporting products/services portfolio for the i.MX 8 family of applications processors from NXP Semiconductors.

The INTEGRITY real-time operating system architecture was designed and certified for life-critical embedded systems – rigorously proven to successfully fly passenger aircraft, control surgical devices and run ISO 26262 ASIL D automotive functions. INTEGRITY separation architecture enables software teams to safely and securely run software of different levels of criticality on the same processor while guaranteeing software tasks the system resources they need.

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