Telematics Archives - Page 2 of 3

Feb 15

Can Self-Driving Cars Make Ethical Decisions?

By Joe Barkai Automotive, Telematics 2 Comments

Picture this. You are in your brand new 2022 self-driving automobile when a large piece of cargo falls off the truck in front of you. The car is not going to be able to stop in time to avoid colliding with the heavy object and hurting you. But the car can swerve to the right, crashing into an open-air sidewalk café and injuring some patrons, including a family with young children, enjoying the afternoon sun. Or, the car can decide to turn the other way, switching lanes quickly, and hitting a motorcyclist.

What should the car do?

Self-Driving Cars Are Here

Jan 12

Three Connected Car Questions

By Joe Barkai Automotive, Autonomous, Connected, Electric, Shared Vehicles, Telematics No Comments

Three Connected Car Questions for 2016

Q: Will autonomous cars be available in 2016?

No, they won’t. Automakers are making steady progress in autonomous navigation and driving technologies, and some of the building blocks are being gradually introduced in new cars. We will see advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) technologies offered in a growing number of cars in the form of automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assistance and self-parking.

But it’s unlikely that self-driving cars will be roaming our streets for at least another 5 years. By 2020 we might see low speed self-driving cars or people-moving pods in limited-use applications such as company campuses, airport transfer services and retirement communities. Establishing dedicated paths or highway lanes for autonomous vehicles will accelerate the adoption and utilization of driverless cars.

Q: Will Google build an autonomous car?

Sep 03

Connected Car Security: Real Threat or Media Hysteria?

By Joe Barkai Automotive, Telematics 5 Comments

With the growing popularity of Internet-connected features in cars, they become attractive targets for remote hacking. While as far as I know no malicious hacking has been reported, there have been multiple demonstrations of serious software vulnerabilities and breaches of vehicles software. A recent Wired magazine article was particularly damming. With Wired support, experienced “white hat” car hackers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek managed to gain access to a brand new Jeep Cherokee and control several functions, including dashboard display, steering and braking.

Jun 16

Reaching a Critical Mass of Connected Cars

By Joe Barkai 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

Jan 02

Ford Drops Microsoft, Selects Blackberry

By Joe Barkai 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.

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