Download, install and drive -- the future of automotive software

February 18, 2009
Download, install and drive -- the future of automotive software

Enlarge

(PhysOrg.com) -- Computers, mobile phones and other electronic devices regularly download software updates to keep obsolescence at bay. That’s not the norm for cars. But that could change thanks to an automotive software architecture developed by European researchers to keep vehicles up to date with the latest technology.

Developed over two and a half years by a consortium of research institutes, software companies, vehicle manufacturers and parts suppliers, the architecture represents a fundamental building block for an intelligent car able to reconfigure and update itself autonomously, as well as communicate with other devices, such as the driver’s mobile phone or PDA.

“The architecture is the basis for a kind of adaptable onboard operating system… but one that’s much more robust than what is on your PC,” says Martin Sanfridson, a researcher at Volvo Technology in Sweden and the coordinator of the EU-funded DySCAS project in which the architecture was developed.

By using middleware solutions - software that allows different systems to interoperate - the DySCAS architecture could allow the car’s onboard navigation system to automatically access addresses on the driver’s PDA to save them from having to be input manually, or it could play music directly from their mobile phone. More importantly, it would make installing new features and components or changing existing ones considerably easier.

“Cars take many years to develop and most are designed to be on the road for perhaps a decade. In that time, technology can change a lot, but currently there is no efficient way to update the software in these vehicles,” explains Sanfridson.

An obvious example of the technological lag is onboard entertainment. Car companies were still putting cassette players in vehicles ten years ago, even though they had been superseded by CDs and they are still putting CD players in cars today as MP3 players overtake the market. In a rapidly changing and increasingly networked environment, in-car entertainment systems will probably need to be frequently updated in the future in order to keep up with new formats.

Your car has been successfully updated

Much as the software on a personal computer connects to the internet to download and install updates, the DySCAS architecture allows automotive software to automatically download patches and improvements whenever the vehicle is in range of an accessible wireless hotspot - in the owner’s garage, for example, or even in a public parking lot. It could then download new maps for the navigation system, update the entertainment system to play new music formats, or even adjust engine timing based on more fuel efficient settings supplied by the manufacturer.

Sanfridson sees the architecture first being used to update non-critical systems, such as navigation aids and communication and entertainment platforms, though once it proves reliable enough, it could be used to automatically update and adjust critical components and settings.

The researchers also explored the possibility of using the architecture to improve fault tolerance, so that if one electronic control unit (ECU) fails another could automatically step in and perform its function. With increasing numbers of electronic components in cars, controlling everything from security alarms and central locking to automatic braking (ABS) and engine timing, having backup systems and effective load balancing is one way of improving reliability. And ensuring reliability, particularly when a failure could affect safety, is perhaps the biggest challenge for any new automotive technology.

For that reason carmakers and parts manufacturers first concentrated on developing a static, standardised architecture to ensure interoperability between different onboard components and systems in the belief that a static system would be more reliable than a flexible one. Known as AUTOSAR, the architecture is a standard infrastructure on which to run automotive software that is installed before the car rolls off the factory floor and generally cannot be modified afterwards.

It is only now starting to make its way into new models of vehicles. The DySCAS system, as a flexible and adaptable architecture, but one that has yet to be proven reliable, will therefore probably not make its way into commercial vehicles for several years.

“We have spent a lot of time discussing how to apply our architecture with AUTOSAR. Initially it will probably be installed separately to update non-critical systems but further down the road it could be integrated into it,” Sanfridson says.

Volvo Technology and Daimler, the other automaker involved in the project, are both planning to continue developing the DySCAS architecture, and may start implementing some elements of the technology into their vehicles. Sanfridson also notes that Volvo Cars, formerly part of the Swedish Volvo Group and now a unit of Ford, has also expressed interest in the technology, while Volvo Group is studying how it could be used in its trucks and heavy vehicles.

Provided by ICT Results


Rank 5 /5 (1 vote)
Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • How to calculate total compressibility in liquid porous solid system
    created2 hours ago
  • Need help reading 3-D
    created22 hours ago
  • A way to send and receive wireless data
    createdFeb 11, 2012
  • Calling function with no input argument
    createdFeb 10, 2012
  • Force free body diagram problem on gym equipment
    createdFeb 10, 2012
  • Empirical data regarding shower heads and water
    createdFeb 10, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - General Engineering

More news stories

Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon

(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...

Technology / Internet

created 10 hours ago | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 4 | with audio podcast report

Iran blocks email, restricts net access: reports

Iran has further restricted access to the Internet and blocked popular email services for the past few days, in a move a top lawmaker said could "cost the regime dearly," media reports said on Sunday.

Technology / Internet

created 3 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 3

Love a click away in Indonesia's Twitter Republic

He was a geeky kid from Yogyakarta, she a glamorous city girl in Jakarta. In a country with one of the world's most vibrant social networking scenes they fell in love on Twitter.

Technology / Internet

created 11 hours ago | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Walney offshore wind farm is world's biggest (for now)

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Walney wind farm on the Irish Sea--characterized by high tides, waves and windy weather--officially opened this week. The farm is treated in the press as a very big deal as the Walney ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Feb 11, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (11) | comments 37 | with audio podcast weblog

Navy to begin tests on electromagnetic railgun prototype launcher

The Office of Naval Research (ONR)'s Electromagnetic (EM) Railgun program will take an important step forward in the coming weeks when the first industry railgun prototype launcher is tested at a facility ...

Technology / Engineering

created Feb 06, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (17) | comments 94 | with audio podcast


Overeating may double risk of memory loss

New research suggests that consuming between 2,100 and 6,000 calories per day may double the risk of memory loss, or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), among people age 70 and older. The study was released today and will be ...

Scientists discover molecular secrets of 2,000-year-old Chinese herbal remedy

For roughly two thousand years, Chinese herbalists have treated Malaria using a root extract, commonly known as Chang Shan, from a type of hydrangea that grows in Tibet and Nepal. More recent studies suggest that halofuginone, ...

New method to examine batteries -- MRI from the inside

There is an ever-increasing need for advanced batteries for portable electronics, such as phones, cameras, and music players, but also to power electric vehicles and to facilitate the distribution and storage of energy derived ...

Lab study raises questions over nano-particle impact

Tests involving chickens have raised questions about the impact on health from engineered nano-particles, the ultra-fine grains commonly used in drugs and processed foods, scientists said on Sunday.

Injured boomers beware: Know when to see doctor

(AP) -- It happened to nurse Jane Byron years after an in-line skating fall, business owner Haralee Weintraub while doing "men's" push-ups, and avid cyclist Gene Wilberg while lifting a heavy box.

A mitosis mystery solved: How chromosomes align perfectly in a dividing cell

Although the process of mitotic cell division has been studied intensely for more than 50 years, Whitehead Institute researchers have only now solved the mystery of how cells correctly align their chromosomes during symmetric ...