Connected Car News: Cyngn, Qualcomm, VW, Magna, INRIX, GM, OMNIVISION, AVL, b-plus, NCOA, Lyft & Ansys

In connected car news are Cyngn, Qualcomm, VW, Magna, INRIX, GM, OMNIVISION, AVL, b-plus, NCOA, Lyft and Ansys.

Cyngn Launches Infinitracker – A GPS Asset Tracker and IoT Gateway with 15-year
Battery

–Cyngn (or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CYN), a developer of innovative autonomous driving software solutions for industrial and commercial applications, today announced the launch of Infinitracker, a global GPS asset-tracking device and Internet of things (“IoT”) data collection gateway with up to 15 years of battery life. The Infinitracker product aligns with Cyngn’s mission to create new data insights in industrial domains such as manufacturing, fulfillment, logistics, construction, and mining.

Infinitracker is designed to attach to anything you wish to track, such as shipping containers, pallets, equipment, or vehicles. Attaching Infinitracker to the asset will allow users to view its precise location, speed, temperature, and direction of travel. A significant upgrade to existing asset trackers, Infinitracker comes with a battery that lasts up to 15 years and can also collect data from other sensors via Bluetooth.

“As we continued to explore opportunities where Cyngn can provide substantial value for supply chain, logistics, and other industrial applications, it was immediately clear that Infinitracker is the perfect complement to our industrial vehicle autonomy and data analytics suite,” stated Lior Tal, Cyngn’s CEO.

“With today’s technology, there is no reason to have to spend time wondering about the location or condition of your inventory; global data should be visible to you in real-time. Infinitracker brings us a new level of asset visibility with its IoT gateway capabilities and 15-year ‘set-it-and-forget-it’ battery life. We are excited to introduce Infinitracker as yet another way our customers can benefit from additional data insights integrated into their operations.”

Using a global SIM card, Infinitracker pushes data to the cloud from its built-in sensors or tethered Bluetooth devices anywhere in the world. Users can access data analytics either through Cyngn’s Infinitracker web portal or integrate with other asset management systems via API.

Infinitracker is a new value-added product for the Company’s autonomous vehicle and Cyngn Insight clients and a simple, cost-effective means for new and potential clients to explore how the Cyngn Insight analytics platform can enhance an organization’s operations.

Qualcomm SoCs for VW CARIAD Compute

CARIAD, the Volkswagen Group’s software company announced that it will look to Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. to supply system-on-chips (SoCs) for CARIAD’s software platform designed to enable assisted and automated driving functions up to Level 4. The SoCs from Qualcomm Technologies’ Snapdragon Ride™ Platform portfolio will be an important hardware component in CARIAD’s standardized and scalable compute platform, which are targeted for Group vehicles from the middle of the decade.

“The connected and automated car of the future is a high-performance computer on wheels. Behind it lies enormously complex computing power,” said CARIAD CEO Dirk Hilgenberg. “With our automated driving solutions, we are striving to let customers take their hands off the steering wheel in the future. Our software and Qualcomm Technologies’ high-performance SoCs are the perfect match to bring this new automotive experience to customers around the world.”

“We look forward to supporting CARIAD and its suppliers to deliver scalable and secure automated driving functions for Volkswagen Group vehicles through their selection of our open and programmable Snapdragon Ride Platforms,” said Nakul Duggal, senior vice president & GM, automotive, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “As the amount of innovation and complexities increase, strong collaborations such as ours with CARIAD are a necessity to not only address aggressive time-to-market goals, but to deliver safe and reliable automated driving experiences for all.”

The selection of Qualcomm Technologies, a specialist in the semiconductor industry, is the first of its kind for CARIAD, allowing it to define which high-performance computer chips are used for its platform and match them with its own software requirements. Under the leadership of CEO Herbert Diess, Volkswagen last year presented its NEW AUTO strategy, aimed at leading the Group into an autonomous and sustainable mobility future. Going forward, the Group will span everything from manufacturing and selling vehicles, to producing battery cells and offering energy services, to providing mobility solutions and developing and continuously updating software.

With Qualcomm Technologies’ high-performance SoCs, the Group will be able to deliver a range of secure and scalable automated driving functions. CARIAD will use SoCs from the Snapdragon Ride Platform portfolio, which are optimally suited to the needs of the software developed by CARIAD.

“We are proud to be supporting CARIAD with Snapdragon Ride Platforms to support NCAP, active safety, to Level 4, self-driving, functionality, across the Volkswagen Group vehicles launching from the middle of the decade,” said Enrico Salvatori, SVP & President Qualcomm Europe/MEA, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

“Finding the best balance between scalability, costs and performance was one of our biggest challenges for the design of our new High Performance Compute platform”, said Klaus Hofmockel, Senior Vice President Hardware Development at CARIAD. “Qualcomm Technologies’ fully scalable SoC lineup delivers very efficient compute performance in combination with energy efficiency and also cost-effectiveness.”

CARIAD develops automated driving functions up to Level 4 based on Snapdragon Ride Platforms. The relationship with Qualcomm Technologies is also an important step in strengthening CARIAD’s own competencies in the definition of optimized high-performance semiconductors. Behind this is the conviction that software and hardware must be perfectly matched in order to achieve the best possible performance and efficiency of central computer systems in the long term. This is especially true for complex functions such as highly automated driving.

Magna 3D Surround View for Toyota Tundra

Magna’s advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) are helping pave the way for global automakers to enhance safety, comfort and convenience. The company’s next generation cameras and electronic control units which enable the benefits of 3D and surround view have recently launched on the all-new 2022 Toyota Tundra.

The vehicle is fitted with Magna’s complete surround view system including five cameras and an advanced electronic control unit to provide a high-resolution view around the vehicle and assist the driver in various situations. Data is fused from the cameras and the system can render a seamlessly stitched, ‘fly-around’ 3D image of the vehicle and its environment upon startup. This feature gives the driver a holistic view of the surroundings and greater reassurance when maneuvering the vehicle.

Magna’s advanced trailer assist and off-road functions have also launched for the first time as part of the system, including:

• Trailer Guidance, a semi-automated function that helps a driver back a trailer into its desired location, which is particularly useful when backing into tight spaces.
• An automatic, one-time calibration of the trailer hitch to help simplify setup and allow for quicker swapping between various trailers.
• Multi-terrain view that allows drivers to customize their view between bird’s eye, front, side and rear – enhancing visibility from different angles.
• A unique “see-through hood” feature that enables drivers to see under the front hood of the vehicle – supporting them in off-road conditions and helping to avoid rocks or other obstacles while offroad.

“We’re proud to be launching one of our most advanced vision systems that provides truck and trailer consumers with enhanced levels of comfort, safety and peace of mind,” said Sharath Reddy, Magna Electronics Senior Vice President. “Trailering can be a challenging task and with this intuitive system, consumers can feel safer and more confident in maneuvering the vehicle, whatever they’re hauling.”

Magna provides ADAS solutions to automakers around the world, using a suite of radar, lidar, camera and domain controllers that serve as the building blocks for future autonomy.

INRIX Intros Parking Demand

Today, INRIX, Inc., a world leader in mobility analytics and connected car services, announced INRIX Parking Demand, a first-of-its-kind innovation to identify exact areas in each city experiencing high parking demand and predict future needs. By combining up-to-date parking and vehicle data, automakers, businesses, and cities now have access to accurate parking predictions to help reduce congestion, stress, and tail pipe emissions.

INRIX Parking Demand combines insights from INRIX Parking and INRIX Trips to better understand driving behavior by incorporating historical, real-time, and predictive parking availability information along with trip insights to provide a complete picture of the local parking demand. Automakers, public sector, and businesses can integrate Parking Demand into existing systems and easily scale to meet evolving needs, unlike alternative solutions that require hardware and are expensive to purchase, install, and maintain.

“Parking is a complex equation and historically it’s challenging to provide drivers with an accurate prediction of parking availability at their destination,” said Greg Corley, senior vice president of automotive at INRIX. “INRIX Parking Demand improves the driver experience by identifying the parking hot spots near their destination. We help our customers tap into reliable, high-quality data to optimize parking operations from end-to-end without new costly hardware.”

Automakers, businesses, and cities can tap into Parking Demand to identify parking hot spots, improve product experience and address parking pain for customers, for example:

• Automakers can now direct drivers to the most appropriate parking lots, even in high-demand areas
• Urban planners can accurately predict parking demand in congested areas to manage availability, improve traffic flow, and make routing decisions
• Curbside management solutions can create data-driven models to predict parking trends and understand patterns and behaviors that enable effective decision making

“The unique combination of our Trips and Parking data allows us to more accurately predict demand and deliver the best experience for drivers,” added Corley. “It’s not just being able to list a number of parking spots in a city but it’s about leveraging real intelligence to know where the highest parking need is in order to ensure the best coverage and guide the driver to the right location.”

INRIX leverages big data and innovative technologies to provide a future-proof parking management solution, with customers having access to both on-street and off-street parking data that covers over 312,000 locations, in nearly 20,000 cities and over 150 countries.

GM & INRIX Intros Safety View by GM Future Roads & INRIX

General Motors (NYSE: GM) and INRIX Inc., a world leader in mobility analytics and connected car services, announced a collaboration to develop safety solutions to help transportation and planning agencies achieve road safety goals. Available first in the U.S., Safety View by GM Future Roads & INRIX is a cloud-based application that provides transportation officials with critical insights using crash, vehicle and vulnerable road user (VRU) information, in addition to data from the U.S. Census to help prioritize and measure the effectiveness of roadway safety projects and their impact on communities.

“General Motors has outlined a vision for a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion, and each day we take a critical step forward in turning that vision into reality,” said Alan Wexler, GM senior vice president, Strategy and Innovation. “Last year, we previewed GM Future Roads, the technology platform born from our innovation team, which uses data analytics to create insights to help support safe roadways and communities. Our work with INRIX is the first product of the GM Future Roads platform as we work to proactively create digital safety solutions. By offering a cutting-edge mobility analytics product, we’re helping public agencies make informed safety decisions for their communities.”

Initial estimates show that approximately 31,720 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in the first nine months of 2021, up more than 12% compared to the same period in 2020. The data also shows this disconcerting trend has disproportionally impacted pedestrians and bicyclists, which accounted for about 18% of all traffic fatalities, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Another 123,000 VRUs were injured in roadway crashes. These statistics speak to the critical need for collaborative efforts that can help generate solutions that support the safety of our roads now.

“With fatalities and injuries continuing to rise at an alarming rate in the U.S., we must change how we approach road safety, and both design and deliver new tools to combat this increase,” said Bryan Mistele, cofounder and CEO of INRIX. “This collaboration extends INRIX IQ — our SaaS-based platform for cities and road authorities — by providing access to powerful insights about roadways to improve safety for all road users.”

To better understand and address the performance of the road network, transportation professionals can tap into key benefits of Safety View, including:

• A­­­ccess to critical safety and demographic datasets in one cloud-based application
• Identify hazardous roadway segments through valuable insights about elements that elevate risk and prioritize those that need the most attention
• Evaluate the impact of a Vision Zero action plan with access to near real-time insights through easy-to-use visual analysis tools
• Accelerate the funding application process by providing the required datasets and analytics tools needed in one place

The recent passage of the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes about $5 billion in discretionary funds as part of the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program. This funding aims to counter the growing number of traffic incidents, including developing and executing road safety plans aimed at the goal of zero traffic-related fatalities. GM Future Roads and INRIX provide a tool to help make data-driven decisions, maximize safety benefits of infrastructure spend and provide valuable insights to help support safe roadways and communities.

Among the global leaders in automotive and mobility analytics industries, GM Future Roads and INRIX are well-positioned to help public agencies address growing road fatalities and achieve Vision Zero goals. With nearly 15 million connected cars on U.S. and Canadian roads, General Motors believes joining forces with INRIX to make aggregated vehicle insights available to public agencies is a major step to help increase the safety of U.S. roads. INRIX brings a deep understanding of the public sector and has a proven ability to create advanced solutions for generating insights from vehicle and device data to make mobility smarter and safer. This new collaboration between General Motors and INRIX marks an important advancement in the mission to help local and tribal governments, metropolitan planning organizations and other road authorities achieve their safety goals through connected vehicle data innovation.

To learn more about Safety View and how it can help make roadway networks safer, visit the product page and join INRIX and GM Future Roads “Safer Roads Start with Better Data” on May 17. More insights on GM Future Roads are available at futureroads.gm.com.

OMNIVISION Debuts OAX4600 AI-Enabled ASIC

OMNIVISION, a leading global developer of semiconductor solutions, including advanced digital imaging, analog and touch & display technology, announced today the automotive industry’s most advanced AI-enabled application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that can seamlessly and simultaneously power dedicated driver and occupant monitoring systems (DMS/OMS). It uses a stacked-die architecture to provide integrated RGB-IR image signal processing (ISP) with two AI neural processing units (NPUs) and embedded DDR3 memory (2Gb) in a single low power, small package chip.

“Driver monitoring solutions that are high performance and low power, with a small package size, are attractive to OEMs looking to comply to regional safety regulations. The flexibility to add additional features and expand into cabin monitoring is a bonus,” says Mark Fitzgerald, director, Autonomous Vehicle Research, Strategy Analytics.

The OAX4600 is a next generation ASIC that uses OMNIVISION’s dedicated NPU with 2 tera operations per second (TOPS). Seeing Machine’s Occula™ NPU is also included for greater application flexibility. The OAX4600 features 2Gb of embedded DDR stacked memory and utilizes the tri-ARM® Cortex® A53 with NEON™ core subsystem.

“Our OAX4600 is set to transform the automotive industry. It integrates a unique set of features developed specifically for interior monitoring systems (IMS), and its small size and low power provide OEMs with the flexibility to place the camera at any location within the car, regardless of space constraints,” said Brian Pluckebaum, automotive product marketing manager at OMNIVISION. “It uses OMNIVISION’s ISP processing technology and dedicated NPU to ensure robust, latency-free image processing, even in the case of RGB-IR. We have also designed this device from the ground up with ASIL B functional safety in mind.”

The OAX4600 is capable of higher resolution processing of up to 5 megapixels. It has fast boot-up time to eliminate any delay between ignition and activation of the interior camera and features integrated cybersecurity.

The OAX4600 comes in a BGA package and will be available for sampling in Q3 2022.

AVL & b-plus Data Partnership

When it comes to developing and validating driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated vehicles (AD), data-driven processes are indispensable nowadays. The tools and methods used generate huge volumes of data. This “flood” of terabytes (TB) poses major challenges to ADAS/AD customers. AVL and b-plus offer an integrated overall solution to this, with which data acquired during real journeys can be efficiently recorded, managed and processed.

It requires many representative test drives in the most realistic environments possible to control the performance of ADAS/AD sensors and driving functions. The higher the degree of automation (SAE level 0 to 5) of the car, the more this applies. Nevertheless, it is possible to implement cost-efficient and reliable validation methods – for example, through objective comparisons between vehicle cognition and a high-precision environmental reference, also known as ground truth.

The AVL Dynamic Ground Truth System™ (DGT) is pioneering in this field. This reference system allows 360° environment recognition, which is completely independent of the test vehicle’s sensors. Lidar sensors, high-resolution cameras and GNSS systems record the environment around the test vehicle and generate a continuous data stream of 1 TB per hour. At the same time, the sensor data from the test vehicle is also recorded in the DGT system, which means a similar volume of data.

In practice, the data continues to mount up: more than 20 TB per vehicle is the norm in a standard eight-hour shift. Global driving campaigns, which typically use 20 or more vehicles, soon reach volumes of around 0.5 petabytes (PB) per day. These figures illustrate just how important an efficient and high-performance validation environment is to a successful safeguarding.

AVL’s DGT system masters these challenges thanks to BRICK 2 from b-plus. This integrated data logger synchronously records the input from reference systems and vehicle sensors. In the subsequent processing, performance and scalability are key: Using b-plus COPYLynx, the data is automatically transferred to a high-performance computer center or a corresponding data cloud, where the AVL ADAS/AD Analytics Platform (AAP) immediately organizes and analyses it.

“Data-driven development is a key method in the development and validation of ADAS/AD systems. With the AVL Ground Truth data recording system, the high-performance b-plus data logger and the analysis platform from AVL, it is possible to call upon a standardized and scalable environment for the implementation of this method,” says Steffen Metzner, Product Manager in the field of ADAS/AD Testing Solutions at AVL.

“For our customers in the ADAS/AD environment, it is increasingly important to have access to high-quality data, which can be used as a basis for their data-driven development. The combination of the AVL reference sensor system and the hardware and software toolbox from b-plus is a comprehensive solution stack. Our technologies complement each other perfectly, in order to gather large volumes of data and transfer it to the data center,” says Stefan Rankl, Key Account Manager at b-plus.

NCOA Offers Free Lyft Codes to Voting Polls