Paving the path to safety: The role of advanced technologies in enhancing mobility

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Paving the path to safety: The role of advanced technologies in enhancing mobility

Paving the path to safety: The role of advanced technologies in enhancing mobility

Articles
Sep 30,23

The automotive industry is facing several challenges as it moves towards a future of autonomous driving. Advanced technologies, such as virtualisation, and automotive OS, can help to address these challenges and pave the path to a safer future of mobility, says Kollu Nandakumar.

Paving the path to safety: The role of advanced technologies in enhancing mobility

The automotive industry is undergoing enormous transformation, driven by the increasing adoption of advanced technologies such as autonomous driving, connected cars, and electric vehicles which are not only changing the way we travel, but also fostering a new debate on safety. One of the most significant changes is the advent of autonomous driving. This technology has the potential to revolutionise transportation, making it safer, more efficient, and more convenient. However, it also raises several safety concerns.

Another issue is the security of autonomous and connected vehicles. Equipped with sensors and software that allow them to communicate with each other and with infrastructure these vehicles collect and store large amounts of data. This data could be vulnerable to hackers allowing them to take control of the vehicle or steal sensitive information. Connected car technology is also a matter of safety. Able to communicate with each other and with infrastructure, such as traffic lights and road signs, connected cars have the potential to improve traffic flow and prevent accidents. Safety issues loom large here as well.

Increasing numbers of Electric vehicles (EVs) further highlight the need to adopt improved safety mechanisms. For instance, EV Battery Management Systems are at the core of every EV. This crucial ECU needs to ensure that performance and efficiency are managed and maintained to ensure safe, secure and value for money transportation.

These are just a few of the safety concerns that are being raised by the adoption of new technologies in the automotive industry. As these technologies continue to develop, it is important to address these concerns to maintain focus on driver/passenger safety.

The growing importance of software

Software is increasingly the core building block in the automotive industry. In the past, cars were largely an amalgam of mechanical components, today however, software is quintessentially a part of every system in the vehicle, be it the infotainment systems interacting with the users or safety critical systems such as ABS/ ESP, Emergency Brake assist.

As autonomous driving becomes the new normal, software will become even more important. Autonomous vehicles will rely on software to make decisions about everything from navigation to obstacle avoidance. The safety of autonomous vehicles will depend on the quality and robustness of their software.

The increasing complexity of software

The increasing complexity of software is one of the biggest challenges facing the automotive industry. According to McKinsey, software complexity based on an index of 1 in 2008 will have increased by more than fivefold by 2030. This has increased steadily in more recent years given the extent to which software is relied upon to realise feature functionalities. This complexity comes from multiple drivers related to vehicle types, brands, regions, and the sheer endless number of configurations / variants that need to be considered while the vehicles are being designed/ built. This complexity also results in a corresponding exponential increase in the number of software releases and of the unit cost per release.

The very same complexity makes it difficult to ensure the safety of software. Even a small bug in the software can have catastrophic consequences. For example, in 2016, a software bug caused a Tesla Model S to crash, killing the driver.

Virtualisation as the way forward

For the Code to Road to be realised in the most optimised timeframe, virtualisation pays a very important role. We need to prepare for the massive increase in automotive software. This is not just more software in the car, it also concerns the continuous enhancement and updating of software that needs to be developed, tested, certified, and shipped. Adapting to cloud-based development workflows accelerates innovation speed, improves time to market and software testing in a scalable way; collaboratively, worldwide & hardware independent. Test runs that are 10x faster than real time can be accomplished with over 80% software bugs being discovered and fixed before hardware is even available with global teams have 24-hour access.

Automotive OS as a Harmonised Middleware

Another way to address the complexity of software is to use automotive OS. Automotive OS is a software platform that provides a common set of services for different software applications. This can help to simplify the development and integration of software and help to improve the safety of the software.

An automotive OS should be harmonised across all ECUs in a vehicle. This will ensure that all software applications can communicate with each other and that they can all be updated in a coordinated manner. This will make it easier to develop and maintain software, and it will also help to improve the safety of the software.

Other Safety Enhancements

In addition to virtualisation and automotive OS, there are several other safety enhancements that are being developed for autonomous vehicles. These include:

Developing standards for testing and certification of autonomous vehicles
Formal methods for verifying the correctness of software
Safety mechanisms for detecting and mitigating errors
Redundancy in hardware and software systems
Safety training for drivers and passengers

The future of mobility

The future of mobility is a bright one. Advanced technologies are making it possible to create safer, more efficient, and more convenient ways to travel. As these technologies continue to develop, we can expect to see even more improvements in the way we travel. However, it is important to remember that safety must have top priority. As we adopt new technologies, we must ensure that they are safe and secure. We must also make sure that drivers and passengers are properly trained to use these technologies. With careful planning and execution, we can create a future of mobility that is both safe and sustainable.

Conclusion

The automotive industry is facing several challenges as it moves towards a future of autonomous driving. However, advanced technologies, such as virtualisation, and automotive OS, can help to address these challenges and pave the path to a safer future of mobility. In addition to the above, here are some other ways that advanced technologies are enhancing mobility:

Connected cars can communicate with each other and with infrastructure, such as traffic lights and road signs. This can help to improve traffic flow and prevent accidents.
Electric vehicles are more environmentally friendly than gasoline-powered vehicles. They are much quieter thus reducing noise pollution and improving the quality of life in the city.
Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) can help drivers to avoid accidents. These systems include features such as automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, and adaptive cruise control.

These are just a few examples of the ways that advanced technologies are enhancing mobility. As these technologies continue to develop, we can expect to see even more improvements in safety, efficiency, and convenience.

About the author

is the Head of Product Development at Elektrobit India Pvt Ltd. With 16 plus years of experience in Automotive Software development, Kollu Nandakumar heads product development in Bengaluru, responsible for the development and operational aspects of Elektrobit products. He also lead ECU development projects at Siemens, Continental, Vitesco for Indian market, and Domain Controllers for global market in the past.