In connected car news are Elektrobit, BOS,Mitsubishi, Choherent, Humanetics and Lytx.
In this Article
Theming Engine from Elektrobit
Elektrobit announced the Theming Engine, featuring innovative, new software capable of fully customizing a vehicle’s user interface at any point during the life of the vehicle—without the need for a software engineer. Elektrobit’s Theming Engine allows automotive OEMs, fleet managers, rental car operators and shared mobility service providers to personalize the look and feel of a vehicle “on the fly,” providing opportunities for revenue generation, improved customer satisfaction and enhanced brand loyalty beyond a vehicle—or fleet’s—point of purchase.
Customization and branding have never been more important to the auto industry. According to McKinsey, companies that excel in such features typically generate 40% more revenue — and, across industries, those that achieve top-quartile performance in customization can generate more than $1 trillion in new value.
The Elektrobit Theming Engine provides easy-to-use design templates and configurations, based on the Android platform, that enable cockpit design teams to produce and apply bespoke interfaces rapidly. The Theming Engine decouples UI design from software development so creative designers can modify the look and feel of an interface at any point within the life of a vehicle. This makes it easy for them to create and deploy a variety of themes including brand- or model-specific imagery, text types and color schemes; updates for seasons, holidays, time of day and anniversaries, geographic positioning such as current location or destination location; and much more.
The Theming Engine enables OEMs to:
- Create dynamic theming for car brands, models, across regions or specific demographics. Design teams can easily create themes, whether brand-focused or consumer-driven, to communicate an aesthetic and generate a unique user experience. The Theming Engine makes it fast and easy to roll out themes across brands, across car models, across regions or across different consumer demographics.
- Foster customer identification. Designers can provide end customers with the opportunity to express their own individuality by customizing their cockpit with their own themes, thus enhancing customer identification and satisfaction.
- Build custom triggers for theme changes. The design team can define triggers that enact theme changes in a time-phased approach, based on user inputs or spurred by new corporate branding. New theming can be pushed over the air or accessed on demand via these triggers.
- Support flexible theming. The Theming Engine can be used to define different variants that can be quickly developed and deployed — while old variants can be eliminated — to address the needs of today’s demanding consumers and fast-changing market conditions. Sweeping changes can be made across a given cockpit environment with minimal effort.
- Accelerate and streamline A/B testing. Testing color calibration, contrast, and other theming characteristics can be time consuming and resource intensive. The Theming Engine speeds up and streamlines this process. Colors, icons, fonts, and other elements can be quickly changed and previewed via an iterative process until just the right look and feel are achieved—directly in the live cockpit.
- Address regional and local differences. Today’s automotive markets are truly global in nature. The Theming Engine makes it easy to change UI characteristics, including measuring units, type and icons, to accommodate different local languages and other user characteristics that vary across markets.
“Once upon a time, aftermarket customization meant shiny wheels, loud decals, and in-vehicle accessories like gearshift sleeves. Digitally-aware consumers want a car that meets their ever-changing needs, including advanced interior features such as curved glass displays, voice controls and user-specific interfaces with distinct theming,” said Siegfried Dirr, VP Engineering Services and Technologies, Elektrobit. “Our Theming Engine offers a glimpse at the future of customization, addressing the demands of digitally-focused customers for more bespoke features, adding branding and new revenue opportunities for OEMs beyond a vehicle’s point of purchase.”
BOS Partners with Tenstorrent
On October 10th, BOS Semiconductors, a South Korean automotive semiconductor startup, announced that it is partnering with Tenstorrent, an AI semiconductor company based in North America, to develop automotive SoC(System-on-chip) semiconductors for automobile and automobile part manufacturers.
As part of this agreement, BOS will license Tenstorrent’s AI Tensix core technology to incorporate into BOS Semiconductors’ line of automotive SoCs. Tensix cores are a key element of Tenstorrent’s proprietary AI accelerator chips that are optimized for handling high performance workloads necessary for complex features required for future mobility. Combining BOS Semiconductors’ expertise in automotive SoC design with Tenstorrent’s next-generation AI technology will provide a solid foundation for securing a leadership position in the market that both companies can build upon together.
“The automotive industry is facing more technical challenges and innovations than ever before,” said Jim Keller, CEO of Tenstorrent. “Jaehong Park and BOS Semiconductors have a great vision for a line of SoCs based on our technology that will be ideal for meeting this moment.”
BOS Semiconductors CEO Jaehong Park said, “Through our collaboration with Tenstorrent, we expect to develop low-power and high-performance automotive SoC semiconductors that improve processing speed, accuracy, and power efficiency. This will enable us to compete successfully in the automotive semiconductor market that is rapidly evolving around new technologies such as connected vehicles and autonomous driving.”
Mitsubishi Invests in Choherent
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503) announced today that it has agreed with Coherent Corp. (NYSE: COHR) to invest USD 500 million (approx. 75 billion yen ) in a new silicon carbide (SiC) business to be carved out from Coherent, aiming to expand its SiC power device business by strengthening vertical collaboration with Coherent, who has been a supplier of SiC substrates to Mitsubishi Electric.
The electric vehicle market is expanding worldwide and is one of several emerging applications driving the exponential growth of SiC power devices, which offer lower energy loss, higher operating temperatures and faster switching speeds than conventional silicon power devices. The high efficiency of SiC power devices is expected to contribute significantly to global decarbonization and green transformation.
Mitsubishi Electric has been a leader in SiC power modules for high-speed trains, high-voltage industrial applications, and home appliances for many years. The company made history by launching the world’s first SiC power modules for air conditioners in 2010, and became the first supplier of a full SiC power module for Shinkansen high-speed trains in 2015. Mitsubishi Electric has also accumulated extensive expertise by meeting market needs for advanced performance and high reliability by deploying superior processing, screening, etc. for the development and manufacture of SiC power modules.
All-in-One Humanetics
There is combination of Avalution and Human Solutions into a single, seamlessly integrated entity, now operating within Humanetics’ Digital Group.
Human Solutions is the architect of the renowned market leading ergonomics tool RAMSIS, which provides optimal functionality and greater efficiency in the interior design and development for motorized vehicles. Avalution produces the foremost interactive body dimension database evaluation tool, iSize along with its premium 3D body scanning devices. These solutions, together with other digital and software solutions for safety engineering, remain the core foundation of Humanetics Digital.
This simplification is part of our ongoing efforts to streamline our operations and better serve our valued customers. By combining the resources, expertise, and experiences of both companies under the Humanetics umbrella, we are simplifying our structure while remaining dedicated to providing excellent products and services.
“Today marks another milestone in our journey to revolutionize digital and ergonomics tool developments and innovations. Human Solutions and Avalution have become a core part of our Humantics. By formally combining the strengths and expertise of these outstanding companies, we recognize their importance as we l reshape the future of human-centric technology,” said Karsten Newbury, President, Humanetics Digital.
This integration allows us to deliver several key advantages, including increased innovation, an expanded product portfolio, enhanced technical expertise, and more efficient processes.
Michael Stöhr, Managing Director of Avalution and Human Solutions, explained, “I am excited about the endless possibilities our full integration in Humanetics presents. It opens up new avenues for research, development, and collaboration. Together, with our Humanetics’ colleagues from across the world, we will accelerate the pace of innovation and our ability to service customer needs in local markets, while pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in digital modeling and human-centric design.”
Our core commitment remains unwavering: to provide high-quality solutions and cultivate robust relationships with our customers. We believe that this merger will enable us to achieve these goals more effectively and continue to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations.
The Human Solutions and Avalution, teams, based in Kaiserslautern, Germany, are now registered as Humanetics Digital Europe. The teams based in Morrisville, North Carolina, are registered under the name Humanetics Digital North America.
About Humanetics (Website: https://www.humaneticsgroup.com/)
Humanetics is a high-tech global industrial technology group (including Human Solutions, Avalution, mg-sensors, ADT-LabTech, Fibercore, HITEC Sensor Development, and OpTek Systems). We are organized into three divisions (Safety, Digital and Sensors) focused on precision engineering and software development that puts humans at the heart of industrial design. We have facilities worldwide, with our global corporate headquarters in Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA.
Lytx Weather Hazard Alerts
Lytx® Inc., the global leader in video safety and video telematics, announced the rollout of its Weather Hazard Alerts, available to all clients as a project within the Lytx Lab tab in their accounts. This new AI-powered geospatial technology built on the Lytx Vision Platform was developed within Lytx Lab, an idea incubator and a way for Lytx engineers and safety experts to collaborate with customers to address market needs. Weather Hazard Alerts allow fleet managers the option to get notifications based on geospatial criteria and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather data to facilitate real-time decision making for safer and more efficient driving.
Weather Hazard Alerts can be filtered by geographic location, time frame, and type of severe weather, including tornado, hurricane, flash flood, and others. Once the conditions are met, an alert is automatically sent to the fleet manager with a description of the event, an image on the map, how many vehicles may be impacted, and when and where that weather event is forecast to occur.
For a more proactive approach, fleet managers can also view current images from across the Lytx network, the industry’s largest network of cloud-connected devices via the Lytx Vision Platform, to see weather conditions in real-time on specified routes. This first-of-its-kind innovation in the telematics and geospatial intelligence space enables more accurate condition assessment and smarter decision making.
“Weather Hazard Alerts give drivers and fleet managers another dynamic tool that can enhance overall fleet performance and driver safety,” said Dan Lambert, Lytx’s Senior Director of Product Management. “The customer feedback we’ve received during our development program has allowed us to rapidly surface key insights that ultimately create safer environments for drivers, passengers, and the public.”
The Weather Hazard Alerts feature is available now to all fleet managers within the U.S. Lytx network.
A separate component also in testing phases with select clients within Lytx Lab is Driver Alerts, in which a driver is directly notified via in-cab audio about weather alerts as they approach a hazardous area, helping them to more proactively re-route before impending and potentially unsafe weather.