In connected car news are AECC, HONK, Toshiba, RapidDeploy and CameraMatics.
AECC Publishes 1.0
The Automotive Edge Computing Consortium (AECC), a non-profit consortium of cross-industry players working to drive best practices for the coming vehicle and computing convergence, today announced the publication of the white paper, Distributed Computing in an AECC System, Version 1.0.0, available as a free downloadable document. In the report, the AECC Technical Solutions Working Group (WG2) provides vehicle OEMs, MNOs and the service provider ecosystem with an overview of distributed computing requirements and architecture for deploying connected vehicle services solutions that meet new data communications use case requirements.
Connected vehicle services, such as intelligent driving, are expected to demand mobility-based machine-to-machine connectivity. Given that connected vehicle services need to be delivered as the vehicle is moving, many organizations face the challenge of designing and operating mobile networks, communication networks and computing ecosystems that can efficiently deliver and process unprecedented and ever-increasing volumes of data from a rapidly moving vehicle. The AECC white paper offers initial requirements and architecture on how communication networks and computing resources could be orchestrated to enable secure, cost-effective connected vehicle services data delivery and processing on a global scale.
GM Ventures Funds RapidDeploy
GM Ventures announced its participation in the $40 million Series B funding round for RapidDeploy, a public safety technology company working to accelerate Next Generation 911.
This investment will enable RapidDeploy to help improve the public safety community’s situational awareness with a cloud-native, data-driven solution. The announcement underscores General Motors and OnStar’s commitment to working with the public safety community to support and accelerate Next Generation 911 technology adoption and to advance efforts to keep communities safer.
Earlier this year, OnStar and RapidDeploy launched a first-of-its-kind program to supply every 911 call center in California with OnStar’s Automatic Crash Response1 notifications. Using built-in sensors on vehicles with an active OnStar service plan, OnStar Automatic Crash Response notifications can:
- Help detect a moderate-to-severe crash and send notifications directly to 911 Centers via RapidDeploy RadiusPlus maps.
- Deploy without having to rely on verbal relay of information, including the location, make and model of the vehicle and available crash details.
- Indicate the probability of severe injury and whether the vehicle involved in a crash is electric, providing first responders with information they need to respond safely, and quickly rescue occupants, when applicable.
When a moderate-to-severe crash is detected, OnStar Automatic Crash Response can also automatically connect to a specially-trained Emergency-Certified Advisor2, who can offer help if a member is involved in a crash. OnStar Emergency-Certified Advisors are Emergency-Medical-Dispatch-certified and can provide medical assistance until help arrives, ensuring members will not face the emergency alone.
The investment will accelerate the work of RapidDeploy and OnStar in 911 Centers across jurisdictions within the United States.
Japanese Motor Cos in JAMBE
Five Japanese automobile manufacturers (SUBARU CORPORATION, TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Honda Motor Co., Ltd., and Mazda Motor Corporation) and five parts manufacturers (AISIN CORPORATION, JATCO Ltd, DENSO CORPORATION, Panasonic Corporation, and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation) will be filling the role of executive member in the Japan Automotive Model-Based Engineering center (JAMBE), which went public. JAMBE’s mission is to promote Model-Based Development (MBD)*1 across Japan’s automotive industry.
The center was founded to fulfill the purpose of creating the most-advanced development community in the mobility sector, able to carry out optimal and high-grade monozukuri efficiently and without rework. Primarily consisting of private companies, the center succeeds an initiative led by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry called “Enrichment of Suriawase 2.0*2“―an industry-academia-government and strategic future policy for MBD in the automobile industry―which had been compiled as a result of discussions conducted by the Study Group for Ideal Approaches to Model Utilization in the Automobile Industry*3.
Executive member companies will lead the center’s activities to contribute to making Japan’s automotive industry more competitive internationally by enabling academia and businesses to share digital models*4 across the board, linking academic research with development of parts, systems and vehicles. Therefore, allowing both sides to coordinate and make adjustments (suriawase in Japanese) digitally from the initial stages of development.
Toshiba Super Fast Simulation
Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation (“Toshiba”) has developed a model-based development (MBD) simulation technology that shortens verification times for automotive semiconductors by about 90 percent.[1] The technology allows automotive equipment developers to quickly evaluate designs using Toshiba’s automotive semiconductors, helping to shorten development times.
As electric vehicles grow in popularity and advanced driver-assistance systems become standard, automotive equipment is growing increasingly advanced and complicated. Model-based development, a development methodology that uses software to simulate models and evaluate performance in real-time, is helping product developers to refine complex design processes. In the automobile industry, MBD contributes to development advances by simultaneously progressing design and verification prior to making prototypes.
MBD separates functions into blocks and verifies total vehicle behavior by connecting each block. Detailed simulation models that include the behavior of semiconductors in individual blocks are required to verify heat and electromagnetic interference (EMI), essential parameters for assessing the performance of automotive equipment. However, as models become more detailed and precise, verification times are growing longer.
Toshiba took a long hard look at its current evaluation and verification technology for automotive equipment. Sub-systems like electric power steering comprise semiconductor-based electronic circuits that work in microseconds along with mechanical components, gears and shafts, that work in milliseconds. Toshiba’s current technology simulates the electronic circuits and mechanical components at the same time, on a microsecond basis, but this results in a large number of unnecessary and time-consuming calculations in the mechanical components. The technology is also complicated because it adopts the SPICE model—Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis—that defines over 100 parameters for the simulation of semiconductor behavior.
Toshiba’s new modeling technology, “Accu-ROMTM”, separately calculates the electronic circuits and the mechanical components. First it verifies the mechanical components, then simplifies the model for mechanical components and finally verifies the total system, including its electric circuits. This approach eliminates unnecessary calculations. In evaluating the electric circuits, the model automatically generates a Very High speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language-Analog Mixed Signal (VHDL-AMS) model from the SPICE model. VHDL-AMS model allows the verification range to be limited to essential parameters, such as heat and EMI noise, shortening the verification time. For example, verification of a power steering system with Toshiba’s current technology takes 32 hours 51 minutes, but that falls to 3 hours 27 minutes[1] with the new technology.
Toshiba will use the new technology to promote development of high-heat dissipation and low noise automotive semiconductors, and to provide its customers with a development environment which makes it easier to use Toshiba’s products. In addition to automotive applications, Toshiba will use the new technology in semiconductors for other applications, such as industrial equipment and home appliances.
Notes
[1] Verification times for simulation of three-phase inverter circuits in an automotive electric power steering system during a right turn with a duration of six seconds.
* Accu-ROM™ is a trademark of Toshiba Electronic Device & Storage Corporation.
* All other company names, product names and service names may be trademarks of their respective companies.
CameraMatics in USA
– CameraMatics, the Ireland-based leading IoT fleet and vehicle safety technology specialist, has reengaged in the US market, hiring key industry veterans across the United States. The company just launched a new website specifically designed for decision-makers of American trucking fleets and business-vehicle operators to help them improve safety, efficiency, and compliance.
CameraMatics has grown steadily since its launch in 2016, and now boasts over 1,000 customers globally, including some of the sector’s leading mid-to-large-sized fleet operators. The company’s solutions are currently operating live in tens of thousands of vehicles worldwide. CameraMatics has seen an impressive 300% growth in its customer subscription base since January 2020.
HONK Offers FirstonScene
– HONK Technologies, the industry-leading digital roadside assistance platform and vehicle transport company, announced its accident scene information services solution, FirstOnScene™. With FirstOnScene, insurance carriers can receive photos, video and information detailing vehicle damage while the vehicle is still on scene. As a result, carriers can reduce the claim cycle time by three to five days, cutting the time required to settle roughly in half.
With more than 6 million car accidents in the US each year, insurers need fast and accurate information about claims. With HONK, carriers can receive on-scene data, photos, and videos to apply intelligent automation for better claim management, faster resolutions and reduced fraud.
FirstOnScene combines HONK’s extensive, nationwide network of vetted tow providers with machine learning. Tow operators from the HONK network capture photos and video via HONK’s platform, which optimizes them for analysis by third-party AI platforms. Images and video are also available to claims adjusters for viewing via their preferred claims management software.
Insurance carriers receive the data points required to settle a claim while the customer’s vehicle is still at the scene of an accident. Customers receive a settlement or their repaired vehicles back faster, and insurers save up to $800 per claim by reducing costly delays such as vehicle storage, impound fees, secondary tows and rental car days.
HONK is already working with several top insurance carriers with a formal launch planned for Q1 2022.