In connected car news this week were Google, Renesas, Nuro, Green Hills, Lyft, Forseight, Iteris, BlackBerry, TomTom, Xevo, TerraStar, TTTech, BMW, ON Semi, NXP, Cognata and Eaton.
Google Map Incident Reports
Google Maps on Android is now showing incident reports that show road work and accident reports. Users are able to add incidents to Google Maps.
Renesas’ R-Car Virtualization Support Package
Renesas Electronics Corporationay announced the “R-Car virtualization support package” that enables easier development of hypervisors for the R-Car automotive system-on-chips (SoCs). The R-Car virtualization support package includes, at no charge, both the R-Car hypervisor development guide document and sample software for use as reference in such development for software vendors who develop the embedded hypervisors that are required for integrated cockpits and connected car applications. A hypervisor is a virtualization operating system (OS) that allows multiple guest OS, such as Linux, Android™, and various real-time OS (RTOS), to run completely independently on a single chip. Renesas announced the R-Car hypervisor in April of 2017 and the new R-Car virtualization support package was developed to help software vendors accelerate their development of R-Car hypervisors.
As more and more R-Car hypervisors become available by software vendors, OEM and Tier 1 companies will have a wider choice of hypervisor options and will be able to select an optimal hypervisor for the combination of guest OS to be run, and for the system of meter cluster and cloud services used. This will increase the flexibility of integrated cockpit system and connected car development and make development faster.
The third-generation R-Car SoCs were designed assuming that they would be used with a hypervisor. The Arm CPU cores, graphics cores, video/audio IP and other functions include virtualization functions and, originally, for software vendors to make use of these functions, they would have had to understand both the R-Car hardware manuals and the R-Car virtualization functions and start by looking into how to implement a hypervisor. Now, by following development guides in the R-Car virtualization support package, not only can software vendors easily take advantage of these functions, they will be able to take full advantage of the advanced features of R-Car. Also, by providing sample software that can be used as a reference, this package supports rapid development.
“Green Hills Software has a proven track record of providing software virtualization solutions for OEMs already in mass production for various automobile mod
The R-Car virtualization support package is scheduled to be available from July 2018. (Availability is subject to change without notice).
Nuro Tests Unmanned Grocery Delivery with Kroger
Kroger Co and Nuro will begin testing unmanned self-driving delivery vehicles with the Nuro R1 very small van.
Green Hills & Paragon
Green Hills Software, the worldwide leader in embedded safety and security, and Paragon Software, a leading provider of storage software solutions, have announced the integration of Paragon File System Link with the Green Hills INTEGRITY® real-time operating system (RTOS). Paragon’s drivers enable car owners to connect USB devices, SD cards, or other storage media directly to in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems and instantly enjoy audio and video recordings, regardless of the file system used.
Paragon File System Link smoothly integrates with the INTEGRITY RTOS platform by adding NTFS, HFS+ and exFAT support to other natively supported file systems. It provides multi-process, read-and-write access to NTFS, HFS+ and exFAT file system, achieving high performance results on mount and initial indexing time, and CPU utilization.
Paragon’s Standby Mode functionality ensures file system consistency and reduces the need for file system checks and repairs. The highly effective Fast Mount feature allows instant access to content, effectively shifting system response time and readiness into high gear. Featuring highly optimized source code, Paragon File System Link ensures low-system requirements without system resource overloads. Paragon File System Link is a highly flexible kernel module that easily integrates into complex workflows guaranteeing the fastest time-to-market.
Lyft Shell Gas Discount
Starting July 1, 2018, Lyft is offering its drivers an increase in Fuel Rewards® savings up to 50¢ off per gallon at participating Shell stations in the U.S. The intent is to provide savings at the pump to help drivers get where they’re going during the summer month. The more rides provided, the more a driver will save. For those drivers who have achieved Platinum or Gold status as part of the Accelerate program, their rewards will increase seven and five times, respectively. Fuel Rewards® savings for Platinum level drivers increase from 7¢/gal to 50¢/gal, and savings for Gold level drivers increase from 5¢/gal to 25¢/gal.* Fuel Rewards® savings for the majority of active drivers double from 5¢/gal to 10¢/gal.
Foresight Eye’s On MOUS for Aftermarket
Foresight Autonomous Holdings Ltd. an innovator in automotive vision systems, announced today the signing of a non-binding memorandum of understanding with a direct importer of several leading vehicle manufacturers to Israel.
The memorandum of understanding covers the terms of an agreement for the sale of Foresight’s Eyes-OnTM system for aftermarket configuration (installation of the product in vehicles after leaving the production line) and integration into the importer’s vehicles in Israel.
As a first step, once a binding agreement is signed, Foresight and the importer will carry out a pilot project using a beta version of the Eyes-OnTM system where the system will be integrated into a number of models from the importer’s fleet of vehicles (up to 25 vehicles).
Iteris Contracts with San Bernardino
Iteris, Inc. the global leader in applied informatics for transportation and agriculture, announced that it has received $2 million in service orders under a new $3.2 million on-call contract from the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) for traffic signal synchronization services across 15 cities in the San Bernardino Valley area.
Under the three-year $3.2 million on-call contract, Iteris will prepare traffic signal coordination master plans, update existing coordinated traffic signal timing plans, perform semi-annual system assessments, and provide on-call system support and maintenance services for the San Bernardino Valley Coordinated Traffic Signal System (SBVCTSS) corridors – a heavily traveled arterial network of more than 250 square miles. The primary goal of the project is to improve traffic flow and safety for all road users, including vehicles, buses, bicycles and pedestrians, as well as reduce travel times and number of stops along the SBVCTSS corridors.
The initial service orders address traffic signal timing improvements, semi-annual assessments and ongoing maintenance both within cities and across jurisdictional boundaries for 1,250 signalized intersections. The service orders span 16 agencies: Chino, Chino Hills, Colton, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Highland, Loma Linda, Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Rialto, San Bernardino City, San Bernardino County, Upland and Yucaipa.
BB Software for Byton
BlackBerry Limited and intelligent electric vehicle maker BYTON announced that the innovative in-car experience within BYTON’s first series of production vehicles will feature BlackBerry QNX technology.
BYTON chose BlackBerry as a foundational piece of BYTON’s innovative in-car experience because of its ability to partition and isolate safety-critical systems from non-safety critical systems, ensuring that critical systems are isolated and can run safely at all times. As part of the deal, BlackBerry will license its BlackBerry QNX technology to BYTON, including its industry-leading QNX SDP 7.0 real-time operating system and Hypervisor 2.0 software.
TomTom and Xevo
TomTom and Xevo have collaborated to deliver the next generation of the personalized in-vehicle commerce experience, utilizing TomTom’s navigation expertise to seamlessly incorporate the merchant partners of the automotive industry’s first on-demand commerce platform, Xevo Market, into cars’ navigation systems. Drivers’ preferred merchants and service providers are presented, through in-vehicle touchscreens and smartphone companion apps, as Points of Interest (POI) on the map, with the option to touch the POIs on the screen and navigate to them.
TerrStar X GNSS
Hexagon’s Positioning Intelligence division has successfully deployed TerraStar X Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) correction technology, which enables instant lane-level accuracy, ideal for autonomous automotive planning programs. In partnership with Ligado Networks, we have demonstrated delivery of TerraStar X technology over both satellite and cellular networks to position vehicles with 5-centimetre (2-inch) accuracy in under a minute. Combining TerraStar X technology with multiple delivery channels is a significant step towards the future of Autonomous X, where cars, UAVs, industrial vehicles, trains, and more will operate safely, securely, reliably, and efficiently.
TerraStar X technology is a breakthrough in GNSS. Built on the latest Precise Point Positioning (PPP) algorithms, it leverages the existing Hexagon capabilities in ground network infrastructure, correction data generation, and data packaging for delivery. By eliminating convergence time while providing high accuracy global positioning, TerraStar X will form the future of Hexagon’s correction services for safety of life applications and Autonomous X. When combined with automotive-grade GNSS receivers available through Hexagon Positioning Intelligence, this technology allows automotive customers to evaluate positioning performance in real-time using data delivered over the cellular network or the L-band frequency using Ligado’s SkyTerra satellite in North America.//
Ford & Baidu in China
Ford Motor China and Baidu, Inc. announced an agreement to explore strategic collaborations to enrich the consumer experience and build a sustainable mobility ecosystem in China.
Ford China and Baidu will jointly explore cooperation across a variety of domains including connectivity and digital services, artificial intelligence and digital marketing.
TTTech & BMW
Together with TTTech Auto, BMW will develop functional applications that aim to bring automated driving level 3 and 4 to highways until 2021, enhancing safety and comfort for the driver and passengers. TTTech Auto contributes its extensive cross-industry software and functional safety experience to this project.
For BMW, the next goal is to bring automated driving level 3 and 4 to the roads until 2021 and prepare for level 5. Elmar Frickenstein, Senior Vice President for Fully Automated Driving and Driver Assistance at BMW commented on the new cooperation between BMW and TTTech Auto: “As we develop a modular, non-exclusive platform for autonomous driving, TTTech Auto’s expertise in functional and software safety and security is extremely valuable. Together, we are determined to bring safe Level 3 automated driving to the market in 2021. We are excited to be working together here at our new BMW Group Autonomous Driving Campus.”
The functional applications to be developed with TTTech Auto will tackle demanding new functionalities that enhance safety and will create a completely new driving experience. TTTech Auto’s automotive experts have already gained extensive experience in automated driving programs with several key industry players and successfully developed the safety software platform MotionWise for series production. Stefan Poledna, member of the executive board at TTTech Auto: “We are very proud that we will be able to contribute with our software and safety know-how to BMW’s automated driving program that is open for partners. Our engineering team is excited to working with BMW and its partners to bring this highly advanced driving project safely on the road.”
Fogless Lamps from Hyundai Mobis
New NXP Microprocessors
NXP announced a new family of high-performance safe microprocessors to control vehicle dynamics in next-generation electric and autonomous vehicles. The new NXP S32S microprocessors will manage the systems that accelerate, brake and steer vehicles safely, whether under the direct control of a driver or an autonomous vehicle’s control.
NXP has met the needs of carmakers developing future autonomous and hybrid electric vehicles with a newly available 800MHz microprocessor/microcontroller. The first of the new S32 product lines, the S32S microprocessors offer the highest performance ASIL D capability available today.2
The NXP S32S processors use an array of the new Arm Cortex-R52 cores, which integrate the highest level of safety features of any Arm processor. The array offers four fully independent ASIL D capable processing paths to support parallel safe computing. In addition, the S32S architecture supports a new “fail availability” capability allowing the device to continue to operate after detecting and isolating a failure – a critical capability for future autonomous applications.
NXP has partnered with OpenSynergy to develop a fully featured, real-time hypervisor supporting the NXP S32S products. OpenSynergy’s COQOS Micro SDK is one of the first hypervisor platforms that takes advantage of the Arm Cortex-R52’s special hardware features. It enables the integration of multiple real-time operating systems onto microcontrollers requiring high levels of safety (up to ISO26262 ASIL D). Multiple vendor independent OS/stacks can also run on a single microcontroller. COQOS Micro SDK provides secure, safe and fast context switching ahead of today’s software-only solutions in traditional microcontrollers.
Additional S32S Features and Benefits
Comprehensive Safety Solution: Available companion ASIL D safety system basis chip from NXP (FS66 functionally safe multi-output power supply IC)
Large integrated flash memory (up to 64M bytes) supporting on-the-fly, over-the-air update capability with zero processor downtime
User programmable hardware security engine with private and public key support
Available PCIe for ADAS domain supervisory applications
Advanced electric motor control peripherals with included motor control software libraries
Software and Tools: Autosar MCAL and OS, security firmware, safety SDK, hardware development tools including NXP GreenBox Electrification Platform
S32 Platform
The NXP S32 platform is the world’s first fully-scalable automotive computing architecture. Adopted by both premium and volume automotive brands, it offers a unified architecture of microcontrollers/microprocessors (MCU/MPU) and an identical software environment that can reduce development effort and maximizing software reuse across products and applications. The NXP S32 architecture addresses the challenges of future car development with a host of architectural innovations designed to allow carmakers to bring rich in-vehicle experiences and automated driving functions to market much faster than before.
Cognata for Audi
Cognata, Ltd. announced that Autonomous Intelligent Driving GmbH (AID), a wholly-owned subsidiary of AUDI AG, has selected Cognata as its Autonomous Vehicle simulation partner.
Audi chose Cognata’s solution, which leverages artificial intelligence, deep learning and computer vision in a highly realistic simulation environment, in order to safely and quickly simulate and validate autonomous vehicles prior to physical roadway tests. Cognata recreates cities from around the world, allowing an expanded range of testing scenarios, including AI-based traffic models simulating real-world traffic conditions. The simulation engine reproduces sensor input by emulating the specific sensors’ interactions with real-world materials.//
More EV Tech from Eaton
Power management company Eaton is addressing increasing demand for high-voltage electrified vehicle technologies with the creation of its new eMobility business. With a focus on intelligent power electronics, power systems, and advanced power distribution and circuit protection, eMobility is poised to capitalize on a global vehicle electrification market projected to grow to 15 million pure battery-electric vehicles and another 30 million hybrids, from mild to plug-in, by 2030.
eMobility was formed by combining products, expertise and global manufacturing capabilities from Eaton’s Electrical and Vehicle businesses. Eaton plans to invest more than $500 million over the next five years to develop new products and technologies, including smart diagnostic technologies, intelligent power electronics and predictive health monitoring, to further strengthen its global capabilities and deliver intelligent electrification products and solutions to passenger car, commercial vehicle and off-highway customers
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