December 2015 – Automotive Technology

The car: the driver’s truly personal assistant Bosch car-of-the-future will experience a new kind of interaction between humans and technology. The car dashboard and central console have been transformed into an electronic display. The information shown on this giant display changes depending on the vehicle’s current surroundings. If a pedestrian approaches from the right, a lighting sequence is triggered to alert the driver. Drivers’ preferences as well as appointments in their diary are also taken into account. For example, if an appointment is cancelled, the car of the future will automatically indicate the route to the next appointment in the diary. Drivers will be able to activate the autopilot to free up even more time and make their journey more relaxed.

But tomorrow’s connected cars will also be capable of much more. With a connection to the smart home, they will enable household functions such as heating or security systems to be operated at any time. For example, should a courier attempt to deliver a package with no one at home, all it will take is the tap of a finger on the vehicle’s display to allow the courier to deposit the package inside the house and confirm receipt. Interaction with technology really will be able to take such varied forms, and offer such safety and convenience. Connected infotainment will let drivers navigate not just through the traffic but through their whole day. They will be able to use it to access online services and smartphone apps – and they will be able to control it using gestures and speech, just as if they were talking with a passenger. This will turn the car into the driver’s truly personal assistant.

A touchscreen that feels like it has real buttons In advance of the trade show, Bosch has received a CES 2016 Innovation Award in the In-Vehicle Audio/Video category for a new touchscreen. This device can generate different surface textures, allowing elements to be felt on the display. This haptic feedback makes it easier to operate infotainment applications such as navigation, radio, and smartphone functions. Often drivers will not even need to look at the information on the screen to control it – instead, they can keep their eyes on the road. The screen generates the feel of rough, smooth, and patterned surfaces to indicate different buttons and functions; to make a selection, a button needs to be pressed more firmly. What makes this special is that the touchscreen looks no different from an ordinary display – and yet it gives users the impression that they are pressing real buttons.

No need to fear wrong-way drivers: a guardian angel in the cloud Connectivity makes driver information more up to date than ever before. This is particularly important when it comes to wrong-way drivers. In general, it takes several minutes for radio stations to issue warnings over the airwaves, but a third of wrong-way driving incidents finish after just 500 meters. Bosch is currently developing a new cloud-based wrong-way driver alert that will let drivers know of any danger just ten seconds after it arises. As a pure software module, it can be integrated at low cost into smartphone apps such as Bosch’s myDriveAssist or existing infotainment systems. In order to detect wrong-way driving, the cloud-based function compares actual, anonymized vehicle movement on freeways with the permitted direction of travel. If there is a discrepancy, wrong-way drivers are warned of their error in a matter of seconds. At the same time, nearby cars traveling in the opposite direction are alerted to the danger. Starting in 2016, the new function will be available as a cloud service.

The highway pilot will increase road safety from 2020 Highly automated driving will further increase the safety of road traffic. This development will come to freeways in 2020. According to forecasts made by Bosch accident researchers, increasing automation can significantly reduce accident numbers – by up to a third in Germany alone. At CES 2016, Bosch will be showcasing the systems and sensors necessary for automated journeys in another demo vehicle at the Sands Expo. Visitors will also learn how the highway pilot works, a highly automated system that assumes all the driver’s tasks and responsibilities on freeways. This technology is already being tested on public roads. Bosch is testing automated driving on freeways not only in Germany and the United States but now also in Japan.

In the future, cars will also be able to see around bends and be aware of possible danger spots, thanks to a stream of real-time information from the internet on the location of traffic jams, construction sites, and accidents. This data will serve as an electronic “connected horizon” and give cars an even better picture of what lies ahead – further increasing safety and efficiency.

It’s up to cars, not drivers, to find a parking space Every journey ends with parking. To make this job easier, Bosch is developing a new function called automated valet parking. This solution does more than relieve drivers of the task of finding a vacant space in a parking garage: it enables cars to park themselves. Drivers can simply leave the car at the entrance to the parking garage. Using a smartphone app, they then instruct their car to find a space for itself. When ready to leave, they call the car back to the drop-off point in the same way. Fully automated parking relies on smart infrastructure in parking garages plus the vehicle’s on-board sensor systems – and connectivity for both. Sensors in the pavement provide up-to-date information on where free parking spaces are located, so cars know where to go. Bosch is developing not only the fully automated parking function but also all the necessary components in-house

The car of the future is connected. It uses up-to-the-minute information from the internet to get vehicle occupants to their destination even more safely, efficiently, and conveniently. This integration into the internet of things also unlocks a host of vehicle-related services. “Connectivity is clearly revolutionizing the way we drive,” says Dr. Dirk Hoheisel, the Bosch board of management member responsible for this area. “Bosch delivers the necessary hardware and software, and is developing a range of attractive services.” The company’s strategy is opening up business opportunities as well. This is borne out by existing studies on the internet of things, all of which indicate that there is enormous market potential in the mobility sector. Hoheisel goes on to note that “the number of services in particular will rise considerably.” Thanks to its comprehensive systems expertise and product portfolio, Bosch is already in a solid position to tap that potential. The technology company addresses all levels of the IoT with its sensors, IoT software, and a diverse range of services. And this is true not just of Bosch’s mobility business, but of all the company’s other business sectors as well.

A few weeks ago, Bosch premiered a cloud-based alert that warns drivers within ten seconds if there is a wrong-way driver approaching. The warning system, which is scheduled to go into production in 2016, is a connected lifesaver in the true sense of the word. As early as 2012, Bosch began operating an enhanced eCall service and a mobile information service on behalf of several automakers. The service provides accident assistance and also lends support on all other issues. And finally, several fleet operators are already using a connected fleet management solution that Bosch launched in 2014.

Bosch technology puts the car online
To connect the car with the internet, Bosch pursues two main approaches. First, it makes full use of the driver’s smartphone. Using the integrated mySPIN solution, drivers can link their Android and iOS devices to the vehicle’s infotainment system. Selected apps can then be conveniently operated from the vehicle’s central display. This technology has been featured in Jaguar and Land Rover models since 2014. Use of it in Asia is spreading, driven by contracts with two other automakers in China plus an alliance with the Chinese internet company Tencent.

Bosch’s second approach constitutes equipping the vehicle with connectivity hardware in the form of a connectivity control unit, or CCU. The CCU receives and transmits information using a wireless module equipped with a SIM card. It can also determine the vehicle’s position using GPS if desired. Bosch offers devices specifically adapted to cars, commercial vehicles, motorcycles, off-highway vehicles, and even railway freight cars. Just a few weeks ago, for example, Bosch won a contract to optimize the logistics processes of the Swiss rail freight operator SBB Cargo.

Connected to the vehicle’s electrical system via the OBD interface, the CCU is available both as original equipment and as a retrofit solution. This makes it possible for fleet operators to retrofit their existing vehicles as well. The Bosch subsidiary Mobility Media also markets this solution for private users under the name Drivelog Connect. A smartphone connected to the CCU can display vehicle data, offer tips on fuel-efficient driving, and, in the event of a breakdown, immediately contact a towing service and the garage if required.

A connected car drives more proactively than any person
Information on traffic jams, black ice, and wrong-way drivers is available in the cloud. When combined with infrastructure data from parking garages and charge spots, this provides a broader perspective – the “connected horizon”. As Hoheisel puts it: “In the connected vehicle, the driver can see over the top of the next hill, around the next bend, and beyond.” Because future cars will warn drivers in plenty of time about sudden fog or about a line of cars stopped behind the next bend, driving will be safer. Connectivity also enhances vehicle efficiency. For example, precise data about traffic jams and the road ahead makes it possible to optimize charging management in hybrid and electric vehicles along the selected route. And because the car thinks ahead, the diesel particulate filter can be regenerated just before the car exits the freeway, and not in the subsequent stop-and-go traffic. Connectivity improves convenience as well, as it is a prerequisite for automated driving. It is the only way to provide unhurried braking in advance of construction zones, traffic jams, and accident scenes.

Predictive diagnostics cut service times
Along with driving data and information on the vehicle’s surroundings, the connected car also captures data on the operation of individual components. Running this data through sophisticated algorithms permits preventive diagnostics. For example, the data collected from an injection nozzle can be put through distributed algorithms in the cloud and in the vehicle in order to predict the part’s remaining service life. The driver or fleet operator can be notified immediately and an appointment made with the workshop in good time. In this way, it is often possible to avoid expensive repair and down times, especially for large commercial vehicles.

Yet connectivity doesn’t stop at the entrance to the repair shop. Mechanics can use transmitted vehicle data to price spare parts and labor much more quickly. In the future, their repairs will benefit from Bosch augmented reality solutions, which use a tablet computer to provide a sort of X-ray vision. When a mechanic takes the tablet and holds it under the hood, for example, the tablet’s camera image is overlaid with comprehensive additional information and repair instructions for precisely the area being displayed. The mechanic can manipulate the overlaid objects via the touchscreen and call up additional information. This makes poring through service handbooks a thing of the past. A Bosch server provides all the detailed data online.

(Source: Bosch Media)

Month: December 2015

The car of the future?

The online car