In connected car news this were Hyundai, Microchip, BMW, Bloom, Elektrobit, TriLumina, Iteris, Moovit, Veniam, Enevate, Cypress Semi, Valeo, CloudMade, Katasi, LG Innotek, FEV, Metatmoto, u-blox, Remcom and Ridecell.
Hyundai Flying with Top Flight
Hyundai Motor Company announced a strategic partnership with Top Flight Technologies, Inc. (“Top Flight”), a leading startup in hybrid-electric unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies, as part of its broader effort to cement leadership in future mobility solutions.
Hyundai will team up with the Boston-based startup to explore ways to accelerate the commercial application and deployment of UAVs across various sectors and markets. Joint efforts will extend to cultivating new business opportunities around UAVs, leveraging Top Flight’s patented hybrid-electric power system. Potential areas for business development include cargo transport, inspection services and surveillance missions for industrial sites.
BLOOM Blooms
BLOOM Sharing Technology announces the launch of BLOOM®, a smart mobility platform for implementing bike, e-scooter and other shared transportation programs.
BLOOM is a uniquely turnkey solution for launching and growing sharing programs for a broad range of applications. In addition to the BLOOM mobile app, IoT hardware, and management tools, BLOOM has partnered with equipment providers such as Republic Bike, to offer complete packages including low-maintenance, custom branded sharing bicycles and electric kick scooters.
Microchip Infotainment Tech
Microchip Technology Inc. announced the industry’s most efficient automotive infotainment networking solution that supports all data types, including audio, video, control and Ethernet, over a single cable. Intelligent Network Interface Controller networking (INICnet) technology is a synchronous, scalable solution that significantly simplifies building audio and infotainment systems, offering seamless implementation in vehicles that have Ethernet-oriented system architectures.
Audio is a key infotainment feature in vehicles, and INICnet technology provides full flexibility through supporting a variety of digital audio formats with multiple sources and sinks. INICnet technology also provides high-speed packet-data communications with support for file transfers, Over-The-Air (OTA) software updates and system diagnostics via standard Ethernet frames. Thus, INICnet technology supports seamless integration of Internet Protocol (IP)-based system management and data communications, along with very efficient transport of stream data. INICnet technology does not require the development and licensing of additional protocols or software stacks, reducing development costs, effort and time.
INICnet technology comes with Unified Centralized Network Stack (UNICENS), a free-of-charge network management software. UNICENS shortens development cycles, reduces software complexity and simplifies system verification for an infotainment system linked by INICnet technology. UNICENS easily coexists with IP-based system management, simplifying the application code by separating system management from resource management.
-Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS), a leading technology company that helps enterprises, service providers, and governments accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world, announced a new collaboration between the BMW Group and Scienlab electronic systems, now part of Keysight Technologies.
BMW Invests in Batteries
BMW Group has reported, the company is investing in a Battery Cell Competence Center in Munich, Germany. As part of this investment, BMW Group has selected Keysight’s Scienlab battery test systems to equip their test laboratories. In addition to providing battery test systems, Keysight will provide services ranging from laboratory planning to laboratory management tools, which are designed to allow effective workflow management and operation
EB Software for NXP
Elektrobit (EB)—a leading developer of cutting-edge, embedded, and connected technology products and solutions for the automotive industry—will now be offering Classic and Adaptive AUTOSAR-compliant software specifically developed for NXP Semiconductors’ scalable S32 Automotive Processing Platform. By utilizing EB’s tailored software tools for the S32 platform, in combination with S32 Virtual Development Kits, car makers can now start to develop future automotive applications like those needed for connected and highly automated driving (HAD) more quickly and efficiently.
Car makers and suppliers are under increasing pressure to bring advanced automated and connected technologies faster to the market. Yet, these applications require more processing power and more complex software than ever before. EB and NXP address this by offering the highest-performing, safe automotive processing platform, optimized with EB’s Classic and Adaptive AUTOSAR-compliant software—already available today—in a virtual environment. Since this software is specifically adapted for use on the S32 platform, car makers and suppliers can more easily develop future applications for connected and automated driving, reducing both time and costs.
Elektrobit’s AUTOSAR-compliant software product lines EB corbos and EB tresos meet the ISO26262 requirements for automotive safety. EB corbos enables car makers to build the complex and powerful electronic control units (ECUs) required for connected and highly automated driving. EB’s products are already in millions of cars on the road today.
EB’s Classic and Adaptive AUTOSAR-compliant software for the S32 platform VDK is available now.
Continental Increases AI Staff
Technology company Continental intends to increase its team of experts in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) by 2021 from its current figure of approximately 400 employees to approximately 700 employees. Continental cited this figure during its first international AIR Days (November 7–9, 2018). Here, close to 200 Continental experts in artificial intelligence and robotics exchanged information about current developments in this research field. The AIR Days (AIR stands for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics) are part of the Continental strategy to bolster Continental as a technology company that utilizes artificial intelligence in all areas.
TriLumina ISO Cert
TriLumina, the leading provider of illumination products for 3D Sensing in consumer, industrial and automotive systems, announced its certification under ISO 9001:2015 standards by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). TriLumina received the certification on its first formal audit by Perry Johnson Registrars, Inc.
Key to ISO 9001 is the idea of continuous improvement. The standard itself does not establish quality requirements, but it requires organizations to define these objectives themselves and continually improve their processes to reach them. Once these targets have been attained, they must be constantly reassessed in a quest for continuous improvement.
Iteris 4 405 in OC
Iteris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITI), the global leader in applied informatics for transportation and agriculture, announced that OC 405 Partners will use Iteris iPeMS® SaaS performance measurement system as part of the I-405 Improvement Project in southern California, supporting its traffic management operations during construction.
In combination with real-time and historical traffic data from HERE Technologies – a global leader in mapping and location platform services – iPeMS will give OC 405 Partners – the joint venture team responsible for delivering the project – the ability to analyze and visualize traffic data to manage traffic congestion, safety and mobility for 370,000 daily southern California road users for an initial 12-month period during the construction phase of the $1.9 billion project.
Features include real-time congestion maps to support maintenance of traffic during construction; bottleneck monitors to identify construction-related problem areas; graphical representations of traffic conditions to analyze events and optimize response plans; historical trend and route reports, maps and congestion charts to track reliability and support planning of project detour routes in and around the cities of Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Westminster and Seal Beach.
Moovit Public Transit in Azure Maps
Moovit has announced it will integrate its public transit information to Azure Maps. This will help developers build richer apps for billions of commuters around the world. As part of the collaboration, Moovit will run its public transit data and services APIs on Microsoft Azure and will gradually migrate its other products to Microsoft Azure
Veniam Partners with DENSO
Veniam, the leading provider of intelligent networking software for connected cars and future mobility, will explore joint solutions for the connected vehicle market with DENSO, the leading supplier of advanced automotive technology, systems and components for major automakers, through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
As part of their collaboration, Veniam and DENSO will explore the integration of Veniam’s intelligent data networking features in DENSO’s Communication Management (DN-CM) systems. This combination will significantly improve the ability of vehicles to move large amounts of data by leveraging multiple different networks securely. Veniam’s patented and award-winning technology further enables automakers to set global policies in the cloud that are automatically translated to local configurations in each vehicle communication unit.//
Alliance Ventures Invests in Enevate
Alliance Ventures, the strategic venture capital arm of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, announced that it has invested in the latest round of funding in Enevate Corporation, an advanced lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology company based in Irvine, California. This marks the latest technology investment by Alliance Ventures, launched earlier this year to support start-ups, early-stage development, and entrepreneurs at the cutting edge of next-generation systems for the automotive industry.
Cypress Semi USB-C Controller
Cypress Semiconductor Corp. announced the availability of an automotive-qualified USB-C controller with USB Power Delivery (PD) that enables fast charging of portable electronics in vehicles. The Automotive EZ-PD™ CCG3PA controller delivers a plug-and-play user experience to automotive charging ports by providing support for the USB PD 3.0 standard with programmable power supply (PPS), Qualcomm’s Quick Charge (QC) 4.0 protocol, and legacy charging standards. As the standards continue to evolve, compliance and interoperability pose an ongoing challenge, but the programmable controller overcomes these issues with its firmware upgradeability. Additionally, the controller offers a high level of integration that minimizes bill-of-material cost and simplifies designs, replacing multiple discrete components.
Cypress’ Automotive EZ-PD CCG3PA controller is AEC-Q100 certified for automotive-grade performance. The controller’s programmability enables load sharing between ports, cable compensation and output power throttling based on temperature and battery voltage. The one-chip solution minimizes bill-of-material costs for USB-C power source products by integrating error amplifiers for constant voltage, constant current and PPS applications, a 30 V regulator that allows direct operation from VBUS, VBUS short protection on configuration channel (CC) pins, gate drivers for high-voltage power FETs, a low side current sense amplifier, and dedicated hardware for legacy charger detection protocols plus system level electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection. Programmable overvoltage and overcurrent circuitry protects systems against power overloads and other faulty operating conditions. The controller also integrates an ARM® Cortex®-M0 and 64KB Flash with read-while-write function for firmware upgradeability.
Osram Laser
Osram has announced that it has added a more powerful and more efficient product –SPL DS90A_3 laser — to its portfolio for LiDAR systems, increasing the range of the applications. LiDAR systems are an integral part of driving assistance systems, such as lane assist and emergency braking systems in autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles.
Valeo 50% Made in Cloud
Valeo announced its acquisition of a 50% stake in the capital of CloudMade, a developer of smart and innovative big data-driven automotive solutions such as a machine learning platform. The purpose is to improve and personalize vehicle comfort and safety for motorists and their passengers.
CloudMade is a pioneering start-up in machine learning and artificial intelligence, with a focus on designing applications for the car industry. Valeo’s investment in the company will provide it with the financial and technological resources it needs to fully achieve its development.
Katasi Distracted Driving Solutions for Mojio
Katasi, a Colorado-based company that has developed the first network-based distracted driving prevention solution, announced a strategic partnership with Mojio, the leading technology platform and SaaS provider for connected car services. Katasi will provide its technology, Groove, as Mojio’s exclusive network-based distracted driving solution.
Katasi’s patented Groove technology is unlike other distracted driving prevention technologies: Groove works in concert with mobile network operators and wireless carriers to block distracting content at the network level, before it reaches the phone. This network-based blocking technology provides a robust distraction-avoidance solution that doesn’t rely on the driver to opt-in (nor opt-out), is thwart-proof and verifiable and provides a user experience that is seamless to the driver and automatically engages while the vehicle is in motion. Current app-based solutions are often ineffective in ensuring that drivers are not using their phones as they rely on the conscience of the driver to not override, a tall order when studies show that while 98 percent of drivers believe that texting while driving is dangerous, more than 66 percent admit to still doing so.
LG Innotek C-V2X
LG Innotek announced that it has developed “C-V2X (Cellular-Vehicle To Everything) module” based on LTE cellular communication.
C-V2X stands for “Cellular-Vehicle To Everything,” referring to the system that shares information such as driving conditions among the car, mobile device, and road infrastructure, using cellular communication technology. ‘C-V2X module’ is a core component of the communication function.
The company used “Qualcomm 9150 C-V2X” for its communication chip set that functions as the brain for the C-V2X module because it is considered the most advanced among the communication chip sets. Even though C-V2X is an unprecedented piece of technology that is difficult to modularize, LG Innotek was able to succeed by utilizing its own circuit design technology and automotive components business knowhow.
FEV MOU with Metamoto
Engineering services provider, FEV, and autonomous vehicle simulation solution provider, Metamoto, have announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), under which FEV will provide technical expertise and support to help Metamoto integrate and onboard new customers onto the company’s scalable autonomous vehicle (AV) simulation offering, Simulation as a Service.
Metamoto’s Simulation as a Service enables companies working on autonomous technology to train, test, debug and validate AV software safely in the virtual space before it is implemented in real-world applications. Since 2016, FEV has been working with these types of alternative solutions for mobility and has been bundling all of the steps associated with advanced, fully connected AVs in its “Smart Vehicle” Center of Excellence. FEV will leverage its expertise to provide Metamoto customers with a white glove customer service experience.
u-blox StartLink TrackerWi‑Fi
u‑blox announced the StarLink TrackerWi‑Fi, an advanced vehicle tracking device produced by ERM Advanced Telematics, a provider of device‑based telematics solutions. The device combines u‑blox GNSS, 4G and Wi‑Fi Technology eliminating the need to equip vehicles with a separate mobile Wi‑Fi hotspot. The StartLink TrackerWi‑Fi has wide‑ranging solutions for applications in connected car, telematics and vehicle diagnostic, fleet management, vehicle security, usage‑based insurance, and rental and leasing service companies.
Remcom WaveFarer
Remcom announces a new software product for automotive radar design and placement. WaveFarer Automotive Radar Simulation Software enables OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to set up virtual scenarios and refine sensor performance earlier in the design process.
WaveFarer uses ray-tracing algorithms specifically adapted for radar applications to predict the scattered returns from a scene, with support for frequencies up to and beyond 79 GHz. Near-field propagation and scattering methods compute raw radar returns from target objects while considering multipath interactions from ground reflections and other structures. Drive scenarios and sensor placement locations can be iterated in WaveFarer, reducing the overhead required to build prototypes and improving installed sensor performance.
WaveFarer is integrated into Remcom’s electromagnetic simulation platform, enabling the program to work seamlessly with XFdtd EM Simulation Software. Radar returns that incorporate high fidelity radar antenna and sensor simulations can be calculated in an end-to-end drive scenario. A common user interface between XFdtd and WaveFarer further streamlines the design process with CAD import, geometry editing, visualization, definitions, result analysis, and more sharing similar controls and a unified workflow. RF engineers in need of full-wave simulation for antenna design and ray tracing analysis for drive test modeling will benefit from the consistent user experience.
Ridecell Funding
Ridecell Inc., a leading carsharing, ridesharing and autonomous ridehailing platform for new mobility operators, announced that it has expanded its Series B equity investment round. The new investments have more than doubled the capital raised in the initial Series B round—$28M announced in May—to more than $60M.
SUBSCRIBE
You are welcome to subscribe to receive email notification of publication of Connect Car news TIPS, you can also get weekly news summaries or daily emails.