Category

Automotive

Jun 16

Reaching a Critical Mass of Connected Cars

By Automotive, Internet of Things (IoT), Telematics 2 Comments

On the Voice America radio show Coffee Break with Game Changers on June 11, I argued that a “critical mass” of connected cars must be reached before we can realize some of the more important and exciting possibilities offered by connected cars, such as improved active safety, reduce traffic congestion and improvement in air quality.

I also suggested that the time to achieve this critical mass may be longer than some expect. If we assume that, perhaps, 30% of all vehicles need to be connected in order to have a meaningful impact, then it would take more than five years for a brand new technology to reach that level of penetration

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), in 2012, there were 254,639,386 registered vehicles in the U.S. Of those, 183,171,882 were classified as passenger cars, while another 50,588,676 were light duty trucks. The rest of the fleet comprised of heavy duty trucks, buses and motorcycles. Read More

Mar 03
Number 48 (Jackson Pollock, 1949)

The Fallacy Behind Counting Lines of Code

By Automotive, Aviation and Aerospace, PLM 4 Comments

Mercedes-Benz vs. F-35

A while ago I attended a discussion about vehicle software development and maintenance. The presenters discussed the increased complexity in automotive software, especially in in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) and the advantages of remote over the air firmware update (FOTA).

To demonstrate the magnitude of the problem, one of the speakers used oft-cited statistics contrasting the number of lines of code (LOC) in the software in a modern car and of a military aircraft. The statistics (attributed to IEEE) were:

  • Current generation aircraft        1.7 Million LOCs
  • Next generation aircraft (F-35)   5.7 Million LOCs
  • Modern passenger car                100 Million LOCs

Do these figures mean that the software in a passenger car packs more functionality than an F-35?  As complexity increases exponentially with the number of lines of code, do the numbers indicate some 500-fold increase in the complexity of vehicle software? Read More

Jan 04
Last Judgment (Hieronymus Bosch C. 1482)

The Electric Car Isn’t Disruptive Innovation

By Automotive, Autonomous, Connected, Electric, Shared Vehicles, Innovation One Comment

Disruptive Innovation

In his 1997 book The Innovator’s Dilemma about how new technologies cause seemingly well-managed companies to fail, author Clayton Christiansen coined a soon-to-become a ubiquitous term: “disruptive innovation.” This catchphrase seems to have gotten a new life over recent years. I frequently participate in client strategy sessions and attend conference presentations where the speaker does not miss an opportunity to frame a new product or service idea as “disruptive.”

Now, disruptive innovation does not mean “cool” or “better than the competition”; it does not even necessity mean “new.” The term, as Christiansen uses it, means a technology that challenges the business status quo by enabling a new and different product or business model that disrupts and shatters the hegemony of market leaders. Read More

Jan 02

Ford Drops Microsoft, Selects Blackberry

By Automotive, Telematics One Comment

As reported recently by Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal, Ford is planning to end the use of Microsoft’s Windows Embedded Automotive operating system for its in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems and replace it by Blackberry’s QNX operating system.

Ford’s SYNC IVI platform, introduced in 2007 was well received by users, primarily because of Ford’s strategy to offer an open, easy to connect to environment. SYNC’s AppLink application allows easy connection to iPhone and Android devices and to user’s Pandora and Spotify accounts, podcast aggregators and other brought-in content. This is in stark contrast to the much closer nature of competitor’s systems such as GM’s OnStar. And unlike OnStar that targets users of luxury models, Ford was wise to offer SYNC on entry level models used by younger consumers such as Ford Focus and Fiesta.

But everything changed with the introduction of MyFord Touch in 2010. This IVI system experienced user interface flaws and instability from the get go. Its unreliability had lead J.D. Powers & Associates to rank Ford’s standing in the 2011 “Initial Quality Survey” of new car in 23rd place, down from fifth in 2010.

Although many of MyFord Touch’s issues have been fixed, Ford announced that its replacement, the upcoming SYNC 3, will go back to a simpler design and feature set and will be based on QNX software.  Ford joins a number of other automakers adopting standards-based QNX: a boost to QNX and a blow to Microsoft which has been blamed directly for the poor performance of MyFord Touch.

The designers of a confusing and unreliable user interface should not hide behind the design and presumed limitations of the underlying operating system. Ford needs to improve the overall IVI product development process, which, in the past, suffered program management challenges that had resulted in pushing scheduled and cutting corners to the detriment of quality.

Ford has reportedly collected 22,000 comments and suggestions for the design of SYNC 3. It will be quite a challenge to translate those into a cohesive solution. Over half of Ford’s North American vehicles will be equipped with Sync 3 by the end of 2016. Vehicles not equipped with Sync 3 will utilize the original Ford Sync.

 

Dec 27

Driver Health Monitoring

By Automotive, Autonomous, Connected, Electric, Shared Vehicles, Internet of Things (IoT) One Comment

Connected Cars and Driver Health Monitoring

I was working with a client on an Internet of Things (IoT) strategy specific to the connected cars industry. Everybody is on the quest for the next IoT’s “killer app”, hoping to get a piece of a pie that is estimated by some to exceed $40B in less than 5 years.

Among the many possibilities enabled by sensor-rich connected cars is using sensors embedded in the steering wheel and the driver’s seat to detect if the driver is about to have a heart attack or suffer another debilitating medical condition. Below is an excerpt from an article in Auto Connected Car News: Read More