GPS World

Tag: connected cars

  • University of Michigan Opens Test ‘City’ for Connected Vehicles

    University of Michigan Opens Test ‘City’ for Connected Vehicles

    Photo: University of Michigan

    The University of Michigan (U-M) has opened Mcity, a controlled environment designed to test the potential of connected and automated vehicle technologies that will lead the way to mass-market driverless cars.

    Mcity is a 32-acre simulated urban and suburban environment that includes a network of roads with intersections, traffic signs and signals, streetlights, building facades, sidewalks and construction obstacles. It is designed to support rigorous, repeatable testing of new technologies before they are tried out on public streets and highways.

    “There are many challenges ahead as automated vehicles are increasingly deployed on real roadways,” said Peter Sweatman, director of the U-M Mobility Transformation Center (MTC). “Mcity is a safe, controlled, and realistic environment where we are going to figure out how the incredible potential of connected and automated vehicles can be realized quickly, efficiently and safely.”

    In particular, Mcity allows researchers to simulate the environments where connected and automated vehicles will be most challenged. Even seemingly minor details a vehicle might encounter in urban and suburban settings have been incorporated into Mcity, such as road signs defaced by graffiti and faded lane markings.

    mtc_illust_with_callouts.final

    The types of technologies that will be tested at the facility include connected technologies — vehicles talking to other vehicles or to the infrastructure, commonly known as V2V or V2I — and various levels of automation all the way up to fully autonomous, or driverless vehicles.

    Mcity was designed and developed by U-M’s interdisciplinary MTC, in partnership with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). It is a public-private partnership among industry, government and academia. The center was established to lay the foundation for a commercially viable ecosystem of connected and automated mobility that will revolutionize the movement of people and goods worldwide.  A key MTC goal is to put a shared network of connected, automated (including driverless) vehicles on the road in Ann Arbor by 2021.

    “We believe that this transformation to connected and automated mobility will be a game changer for safety, for efficiency, for energy, and for accessibility,” Sweatman said. “Our cities will be much better to live in, our suburbs will be much better to live in. These technologies truly open the door to 21st century mobility.”

    The facility also underscores Michigan’s emergence as a leader in advanced mobility, building on the state’s position as the global center of automotive research and development for more than a century, U-M said in a news release. Today, Michigan is home to 375 automotive research centers, and has the highest concentration of industrial and mechanical engineers in the country.

    MTC is a public-private partnership among industry, government and academia. The center was established to lay the foundation for a commercially viable ecosystem of connected and automated mobility that will revolutionize the movement of people and goods worldwide.  A key MTC goal is to put a shared network of connected, automated (including driverless) vehicles on the road in Ann Arbor by 2021.

    MTC’s industry and government partners reflect the diversity of perspectives required to meet the challenges ahead. In the private sector, MTC partners include automakers and top-tier auto suppliers, but also traffic signal and traffic sensing companies, insurance providers, telecommunications, big data, IT and more. On the public side, MTC is working with federal, state and city governments.

    “Mcity represents an important partnership between government at all levels, private industry and academia,” said Kirk Steudle, director of the Michigan Department of Transportation. “State of Michigan officials are thrilled to be part of this vital collaborative, which will ensure that Michigan continues to be the world’s auto leader.”

    In addition to Mcity, MTC has three on-roadway connected and automated vehicle deployments underway. With the help of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, MTC is building on a nearly 3,000-vehicle connected technology project launched three years ago by the U-M Transportation Research Institute to create a major deployment of 9,000 connected vehicles operating across the greater Ann Arbor area. MTC is also partnering with industry and the Michigan Department of Transportation to put 20,000 connected vehicles on the road in Southeast Michigan. The third piece of the plan calls for deploying a 2,000-vehicle mobility service of connected and automated vehicles in Ann Arbor.

    MTC was launched in 2013 and Mcity construction began last year.  About $10 million has been invested in the test facility, with funding coming from U-M and MDOT. Mcity will be available for use by any organization, but priority will be given to MTC partners and U-M faculty and students.

    MTC is working with 15 Leadership Circle member companies, each investing $1 million over three years, and engaging in thought leadership. Thirty-three Affiliate Members are also contributing, and investing $150,000 over three years. Current Leadership Circle companies are:

    • Delphi Automotive PLC
    • DENSO Corporation
    • Econolite Group, Inc.
    • Ford Motor Co.
    • General Motors Co.
    • Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    • Iteris, Inc.
    •  Navistar, Inc.
    •  Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    •  Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
    •  Robert Bosch LLC
    •  State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
    •  Toyota Motor Corp.
    •  Verizon Communications, Inc.
    •  Xerox Corp.

  • Autonomous Vehicles Face Privacy, Security and Liability Issues

    Chris Urmson, Google, speaks at ITS America on the future of the self-driving car.
    Chris Urmson, Google, speaks at ITS America on the future of the self-driving car.

    Plus: Resurgence in indoor location-based marketing, ITS America annual meeting report

    Autonomous vehicle technology has made industry-smart people pause and think what the consequences will be if cars and other platforms drive themselves. Will there be a huge increase in traffic when everyone decides to call their cars to grab a loaf of bread at a store? Many of these topics were discussed at the ITS America annual meeting held in Pittsburgh May 31-June 3. In other location news, there seems to be a resurgence in location-based marketing and indoor positioning conferences, leading one to believe that large retailers are finally taking notice.

    By Kevin Dennehy

    Kevin Dennehy
    Kevin Dennehy

    PITTSBURGH — Chris Urmson, Google’s self-driving cars director, told autonomous vehicle proponents what they wanted to hear during his keynote presentation at the recent Intelligent Transportation Society of America’s annual meeting here. He told them that self-driving vehicles will cut down on the 33,000 U.S. traffic deaths each year (“the equivalent of a 737 falling out of the sky five days a week,” he said) and save time and productivity wasted.

    Urmson also said his goal, and his team’s goal, at Google was to ensure son doesn’t have to get a driver’s license, a trend that has become popular with urbanized youth.

    The message was upbeat and timely for the crowd of government and university transportation attendees. However, liability issues continue to surround autonomous vehicle development.

    “In the end, you are always going to have that guy with the ’57 Chevy in his garage. How do you make the autonomous vehicle work with it? It’s akin to the horse and car,” said Ken Leonard, U.S. Transportation Department ITS Joint Program Office director.

    Urmson said he has had “long conversations with insurance companies.” He said that insurance companies are trying to accurately assess risk, and while the model may change, money will still flow, just through a different path.

    One ITS America panel discussed security and privacy issues surrounding connected and autonomous vehicles. One panelist said that while privacy may be dead, security is the real big deal with recent reports indicating that cars’ electronics can be compromised.

    Others believe it’s going to take more time than Google’s assertion that autonomous vehicles will be on the road in five years. “Lessons from the past temper our optimism. While air bags were patented in 1953, and were introduced on luxury models in the 1970s, it wasn’t until the 1990s before there were big penetrations,” said James Anderson, Rand Corp. senior behavioral scientist. “Key takeaways are automaker opposition about the liability [of new technology] and lack of consumer support.”

    The ITS America show floor before the crowds arrive.
    The ITS America show floor before the crowds arrive.

    Anderson said that yes, the lives saved will be a big driver of autonomous vehicles, but congestion will increase, making way for super commuting. “Public transit will also go through big changes. An economic disruption will occur — do you know how much New York City makes from parking alone?” he said. “Safety doesn’t sell in the early stages, as many benefits don’t go directly to the user.”

    Steve Bayless, ITS America vice president of technology, said the solution is not to kill all the lawyers, as there will be continued liability surrounding new in-car technology. “Embedded devices were developed at a time when they were not connected, but the environment has shifted around systems,” he said. “The systems are usually vulnerable because there are poor requirements. Companies have no explicit security policy, or it is poorly specified, or specified too late after design and development.”

    Uber Gets Into Autonomous Game

    The ITS America’s closing keynote speaker was Uber’s head of global public policy, Corey Owens, who said that one of the best cases for autonomous vehicles was the lack of use by consumers of their cars. “In some areas, owning a car is non-negotiable. But how little these cars are used — as many as 95 percent stand idle,” he said.

    Uber announced that Google former head of mapping, Brian McClendon, is joining the company as it develops its own navigation, mapping and transportation systems.

    It’s no secret that Uber is targeting continued autonomous vehicle interest, as it created an Advanced Technologies Center in Pittsburgh. It was also rumored that it was a bidder, with Baidu, to buy Nokia’s HERE digital mapping company. (See more on Baidu in Janice Partyka’s June blog.)

    One major company trying to find its way into connected vehicles, Xerox, exhibited at ITS America in the show’s Entrepreneurial Village. Xerox has installed its smart parking products in such systems as LA Express Park, ParkyIndy and others.

    Xerox has partnered with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute in Ann Arbor for testing connected and autonomous vehicles. The company is working with automotive OEMs on electronic tolls, parking, mobile payment and other projects, said David Cummins, Xerox senior vice president and managing director of parking and mobility solutions.

    The U.S. Department of Transportation booth at ITS America focused on the connected car.
    The U.S. Department of Transportation booth at ITS America focused on the connected car.

    Cummins moderated a panel where small companies talked about new technologies and applications like cities without bus stops where a bus is continually moving to the riders on demand.

    In terms of autonomous vehicle use, Cummins envisions an increase in ride-sharing over the next 5-10 years in urban areas. “Initially, there will be a spike in congestion [from autonomous vehicles]. But ultimately, there will be less car ownership,” he said.

    Thoughts on ITS America’s Annual Meeting

    ITS America celebrated its 25th annual meeting in Pittsburgh to an enthusiastic crowd of 2,000 attendees and 125 exhibitors. However, I am not sure if this conference has grown at all, despite claims it had the largest attendance last year (co-located with the larger, and more private-company-friendly, ITS World Congress in Detroit).

    Despite two decades of rhetoric that it is a private-public partnership, the meeting has the feel of a government and university gathering with a few private companies thrown in who want to do business with them. This is a sad thing, as ITS America has embraced the future of autonomous vehicles with excellent speakers.

    Having the meeting in the Bay Area next summer will be a good start to altering the perception that ITS America’s annual meeting is just a government show to “show-the-flag” for private companies.

    Mid-Year Report on Indoor Location

    Earlier this month, executives attended the Place Conference in New York to get an update on indoor location markets and technology for store chains, large department stores and malls. It was also a chance for technology vendors to show new capabilities that have recently reached the market, said Bruce Krulwich, Grizzly Analytics president, who has authored a report on 150 indoor positioning companies.

    Krulwich said, as the year reaches it’s the halfway point, new and more accurate systems are hitting the market. “This includes LED lighting-based systems from Acuity and GE Lighting, and proprietary radio technologies from companies like Quuppa, all of which deliver accuracy of around 10 centimeters with very fast response,” he said. “Some companies, including New York-based Spreo, are improving the quality using standard approaches, like beacons and motion sensing. They are achieving strong accuracy and responsiveness through software improvements. At the same time, hardware-based indoor location technologies, such as Ireland-based DecaWave’s chip and other UWB systems, are coming to market inside highly innovative consumer devices.”

    Going forward, the biggest challenge is moving from the lab to the real world, Krulwich said. “Deployments such as Game Stop stores and Taubman malls are great moves in this direction,” he said.

    In other location industry news:

    • Note to meeting organizers: Do your due diligence to ensure conference dates don’t overlap. Having two major transportation conferences on the same week was challenging to attend: ITS America Annual Meeting and Telematics-Detroit.
    • The brass at Nokia continue to court a consortium of German car makers to buy its HERE navigation business, according to Bloomberg. The consortium, which consists of Audi, BMW and Daimler, is hung up on the price tag of $4.5 billion — and the deadline for bidders has passed, according to the story.

  • Telit, Agnik Join on IoT Apps, Big Data for Smart Devices

    Telit Wireless Solutions and Agnik are collaborating on Internet of Things (IoT) applications and Big Data analytics for connected devices in the auto, home and health industries. Agnik’s solutions expand the quality and quantity of integrated IoT apps and analytics available to customers and ecosystem partners of the industry-leading deviceWISE AEP.

    The rapid proliferation of smart devices and products makes it challenging to aggregate and manage all these different data sources and also requires that this trove of data is harnessed and analyzed to extract valuable insights that help companies make more informed business decisions. The Internet of Things is already starting to transform businesses around the world. For example, in the automotive industry Big Data analytics provide a better understanding of vehicle performance, automotive business, automotive risk management, and connect with customers at a deeper level to improve efficiency and brand-loyalty. In the home, Big Data solutions are helping to manage energy consumption, maintain security while allowing entry to repair services while the homeowner is away. Individuals are wearing quasi healthcare devices on their bodies night and day.

    Telit and Agnik are providing technology and analytics designed to make it easy for large and small companies to get onboard with the Internet of Things — reducing cost, time-to-market, complexity and risk versus trying to engineer a fragmented solution in house. At the core sits Telit’s Cloud-based deviceWISE, an application enablement platform for data acquisition, data and device management and data integration. In turn, Agnik converts the data from thousands of connected things into actionable business intelligence, delivered on custom web-based and mobile apps, and dashboards.

    “We are honored to welcome Agnik as a deviceWISE business partner. Agnik’s leading IoT apps and Big Data Analytics further expand the number of off-the-shelf deviceWISE Ready solutions that are available to customers, MNOs and partners worldwide,” said Gideon Rogovsky, SVP, sales and marketing of deviceWISE platform at Telit. “Telit is creating a growing ecosystem of world-class IoT solution providers — ranging from the device side to applications and analytics.”

    “We are pleased to collaborate with Telit and offer Agnik’s analytics-driven ecosystem of products and services to the deviceWISE AEP community,” said Hillol Kargupta, president of Agnik. “Agnik offers a comprehensive analytics platform for connected devices powered by our patented, onboard data-stream mining technology and wide range of distributed cloud-based analytics for consumer and commercial applications in connected environments.”

    Agnik’s suite of analytics software products provide a wide range of powerful onboard and cloud-based tools that transform data about vehicle performance and user experience into valuable insights, according to the company. The analytics help companies in the automotive industry connect with car owners at a deeper level.

    Agnik has also embarked upon a deep analytics driven path in the connected world of devices and products for industrial environments, home and health. Its collaboration with Telit will blend Agnik’s predictive data analytics capabilities with Telit’s device management infrastructure to develop a patchwork of insights into a holistic quilt of knowledge, from what would appear to be on the surface unrelated sources of information, devices, and products.

  • Drones Take Off for Location Companies

    Drones Take Off for Location Companies

    3D Robotics Solo Drone with GPS embedded.
    3D Robotics Solo Drone with GPS embedded.

    The National Association of Broadcasters meeting in Las Vegas draws 100,000 attendees annually, making it one of the largest trade shows in the country. However, besides timing and some very niche markets, it has not been a big show for location companies. That is, until now, when NAB welcomed drone manufacturers, all of which embed GPS in their flying aircraft.

    Kevin Dennehy
    Kevin Dennehy

    LAS VEGAS — Commercial drones, a growing market for location companies, was one of the most popular topics at the National Association of Broadcasters Show, held here April 13-16.

    The market for drones has grown nearly five times in the last few years, said Eric Cheng of DJI, which uses GPS in its virtual positioning system that monitors and controls the aircraft. The company markets what they call “flying cameras” that look suspiciously like drones. “The market was initially hobbyists, but now some major broadcast players are buying the cameras,” Cheng said at the Showstoppers trade event the day before NAB.

    Most of the drones offer GPS-based automatic flight stabilization technology. Some even offer a long-range wireless signal and low-latency video transmission.

    Many of the drones are programmed so they don’t go higher than mandated FAA rules or go into restricted, no-fly aviation zones — and all use GPS to do this. Some of the drones even return to the user automatically when their batteries run low.

    DJI drone with embedded GPS.
    DJI drone with embedded GPS.

    DJI offers three cameras for the drones. The high-end Phantom 3 Advanced offers 1080P HD video at 60 frames per second. The 1080P version costs $995.

    In terms of privacy and government regulation, U.S. regulators are way behind Europe, Cheng said. “Other countries are way ahead of the [United States] in terms of working with drone companies,” he said. “In terms of privacy, the step ladder was the first tool for the invasion of privacy. They haven’t outlawed step ladders.”

    The slow U.S. regulatory process has forced some manufacturers to go to other countries to test their drones, said Roger Sollenberger, 3D Robotics’ editorial director. “[U.S. regulations] have moved slowly here — despite the government knowing about worldwide drone rollouts. In Japan, they have been using drones to crop dust for 20 years,” he said.

    Furuno's Don Hanham with GNSS modules at NAB.
    Furuno’s Don Hanham with GNSS modules at NAB.

    To signal increased interest in the commercial drone market, 3D Robotics raised $70 million dollars in funding, led by investor Qualcomm, Sollenberger said. The company, which partnered with action camera giant Go Pro, says its Solo drones can be used not only by broadcast companies, but for railroad track and building inspections.

    As GPS World reported, Furuno Electric Co.’s latest multi-GNSS receiver module, GN-87, has been adopted for the new quadcopter Bebop Drone. The broadcast market has been a good one for company’s timing products, drone integration and even weather prediction, said Don Hanham, a Furuno sales and marketing consultant.

    Furuno is marketing its Doppler Weather Radar System for broadcast. The system allows weather predictors to follow the development of short, localized rainstorms and extreme weather conditions.

    Booz Allen Hamilton Releases Report on 2015 Automaker Priorities

    The era of automotive connectivity, and subsequent heavy competition, is the focus of Booz Allen Hamilton’s new report, “Getting the Customer Experience Right: Auto Industry Priorities in 2015.”

    The company says that automakers should consider six key priorities this year: deliver innovation in months, not model years; differentiate with new partnerships to catch customers’ attention; secure connectivity to reinforce a relationship of trust with customers; address the “so what” of connected cars; personalize the customer experience via the tremendous potential buried in data; and find and build the market for alternative fuel vehicles.

    In terms of big connected vehicle technologies this year, Jon Allen, a principal with Booz, cites 4G pipe in GM and Audi vehicles and over-the-air updates by Ford and BMW, among others. “New parental controls in the Chevy Malibu report average speed and near misses while also preventing drivers from turning on the stereo until seatbelts are fastened. It’s easy to imagine this across vehicles, with parents receiving text messages in real time,” he said.

    Allen said, in terms of vehicle connectivity, automakers must answer the “so what” to set themselves apart from the competition. “We have yet to see the seminal, game-changing connectivity plays. Most companies are still in the ‘features’ mindset, offering new à la carte enhancements,” he said. “They’re not yet articulating a top-down strategy for re-envisioning the customer experience with connectivity.”

    One of the company’s six priorities concerns connected security, which has been a big industry issue since the recent release of the Markey Report, which focused on how vehicles can be hacked. “We have clients who get it.  They’ve identified a senior leader to champion vehicle cyber security and backed them up with a cross-functional team that works closely with counterparts across the organization — in product engineering, supply chain, safety, privacy and IT,” Allen said.  “Other OEMs are still formulating their approach. That said, there are pockets of cyber security across every organization, focused on implementing security controls on individual parts. The challenge is taking the next step —moving from this segmented, ‘assembly line approach’ to a more unified program that focuses on securing the complete vehicle ecosystem.”

    Allen said the company has to speak honestly to customers and regulators about how to manage vehicle cyber security risk. “Industry leaders must prioritize their security approach to ensure that higher risk scenarios are addressed first, rather than try to take on all elements of the challenge at once,” he said.

    Another priority addresses the long lead times, by automakers, to develop and roll out new features, which is a challenge, Allen said. “Consumer electronics, telecommunications and software companies are redefining the traditional industry boundaries that once distinguished them from OEMs. These companies focus on connectivity and services from the start of their product design process,” he said. “The key for automakers going forward is to continue learning from these new competitors, particularly around rethinking the vehicle lifecycle, connected product design, and managing vehicle software updates after purchase. In the near future, automakers will need different approaches to building and enhancing infotainment systems that can keep pace with customer demands.”

    The marriage of autonomy and connectivity is a game-changer, Allen said. “It isn’t just about plugging vehicles in to the Internet of Things. Autonomy transforms transportation,” he said. “When a car drives you, it becomes a retail outlet, a personal assistant, even a trusted chaperone — that all depends on getting both autonomy and connectivity right.”

    The rise of autonomous vehicles gets to the fundamental need for industry leaders to be willing to reimagine their product, Allen said. “Autonomous capabilities are not just about engineering a safer, more efficient, and more appealing mode of transportation. That’s important, but it’s really about a distinctly different product, one that creates a sustained, services-based relationship with the customer,” he said. “It will focus on the driving experience not just behind the wheel, but sitting comfortably inside of a self-driving vehicle. The connected, autonomous vehicle will change automotive for the better — and forever.”

    Allen said his company is seeing OEMs look beyond their individual vehicles to see the emerging connected society that includes ride sharing, multi-modal transportation and connected cities. “The way we go from point A to point B will look and feel drastically different 25 years from now; many OEMs are beginning to accept the change and embrace the challenge,” he said.

  • TU-Automotive Announces Connected Car Award Finalists

    TU-Automotive has announced finalists in several categories for its 2015 awards. Finalists in the Best Connected Car System Integrator category include chipmakers Qualcomm and u-blox, among others. Nominees in other categories include TomTom, NXP Semiconductors, Telogis and Geotab.

    The finalists represent excellence, innovation and leadership in the connected car industry, TU-Automotive said.

    More than 400 entries were submitted. The winners will be revealed at the TU-Automotive Awards Ceremony on June 2 in Detroit. Here is the full list of finalists:

    Car Maker of the Year 2015

    • Audi
    • BMW of North America, LLC
    • Ford Motor Company
    • Qoros auto
    • Toyota Motor Sales
    • Volvo Car Group

    Commercial Vehicle Maker of the Year

    • Mack Trucks
    • Scania CV AB
    • Volvo AB

    Telematics Service Provider of the Year

    • Airbiquity
    • Ericsson
    • General Motors
    • Jasper
    • Nuance Communications, Inc.
    • Total Traffic and Weather Network
    • Xtime

    Commercial Telematics Service Provider of the Year

    • Inthinc Technology Solutions Inc.
    • Openmatics
    • Teletrac Inc
    • Telogis

    Best Connected Car System Integrator

    • Atos
    • AutonomouStuff LLC
    • HERE, a Nokia company
    • Car Connectivity Consortium
    • Covisint
    • Dash Labs
    • Elektrobit (EB) Automotive
    • Luxoft
    • Movimento
    • Parkopedia
    • Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
    • Symphony Teleca Corp.
    • u-blox AG
    • Uievolution, Inc.

    Best Commercial Vehicle System Integrator

    • Eyeris
    • Geotab
    • KPIT Technologies Ltd.
    • Navistar
    • Spireon, Inc.
    • Symphony Teleca Corp.
    • TomTom Telematics

    Best Insurance Telematics Product

    • Allstate Insurance Company
    • AXA & MyDrive Solution
    • Codan Insurance (RSA) & The Floow
    • Direct Auto Insurance & DriveFactor
    • Industrielle Alliance, Assurance auto et habitation inc. & Baseline Telematics
    • Progressive Insurance & zubie inc
    • RightTrack® by Liberty Mutual & Octo Telematics North America
    • Suncorp Group & Wunelli, a LexisNexis Company

    Best Telematics Product or Launch in an Emerging Market

    • CarIQ Technologies Private Limited.
    • Discovery Insure
    • iTrans Technologies Pvt Ltd
    • Omnicomm
    • Qoros Auto
    • TATA Motors Ltd, India
    • TechMahindra
    • TOWER Insurance (in partnership w/ DriveFactor Inc.)

    Best Safety or ADAS Solution

    • Argus Cyber Security
    • BrightWay Vision
    • Delphi Automotive PLC
    • Elektrobit (EB) Automotive
    • Eyeris
    • General Motors
    • NXP Semiconductors
    • TomTom
    • Valeo Wiper Systems

    Best Mobility Solution Industry Newcomer

    • Carma
    • County of Santa Clara Roads & Airports Department
    • Dash Labs
    • Hyundai Blue Link Smartwatch app
    • Local Motion
    • moovel GmbH
    • parku – The Parking App
    • QNX Software Systems

    Industry Newcomer

    • ATG Risk Solutions
    • CarKnow LLC
    • CloudCar
    • Dealer-FX
    • Eyeris
    • gestigon
    • MobiWize
    • Nebula Systems Ltd
    • Rivet Radio, Inc.
    • TowerSec

    TU-Automotive Influencer of the Year

    • Andrew Poliak, Global Director Business Development – Automotive, QNX Software Systems
    • Dominikus Hierl, Chief Executive Officer, Telit Automotive Solutions
    • Erica Klampfl, PhD, Future Mobility Manager, Ford Research & Advanced Engineering
    • Jeff Owens, Chief Technology Officer & Executive Vice President, Delphi
    • Matt Jones, Senior Technical Specialist – Infotainment, Jaguar Land Rover
    • Paul Drysch, Global Director – Connected Car, Jasper
    • Paul Stacy, Founding Director of Wunelli, a LexisNexis Company
    • Ricky Hudi, Head of Electrics/Electronics, Audi AG

  • Mobile World Congress Sees Rise in Indoor Location Companies

    Kevin Dennehy
    Kevin Dennehy

    This year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona was the biggest ever, with 95,000 attendees and thousands of booths, conferences and people with sore feet walking a cavernous exhibition hall. While the Geneva Auto Show ran close to the same dates, connected vehicle companies and technology were prominently featured. What was interesting, however, was the rise of indoor positioning companies and mobile advertising agencies with interest in location.

    BARCELONA — Joining the 95,000 or so Mobile World Congress attendees were about three dozen companies who are offering indoor location and location advertising services. These companies have exhibited at previous conferences, but not in the numbers this year.

    At the huge Fira convention center where MWC was held March 2-5, Los Altos, Calif.-based Pole Star installed more than 600 beacons for indoor location. Visitors were able to be guided to booths and other areas through an interactive map. “Business was good in 2014, we sold 10,000 beacons. We are making money,” said Christian Carle, Pole Star CEO.

    One analyst said that the big change at MWC wasn’t the number of indoor positioning companies and demos, but the maturity and breadth of the technology. “Intel announced indoor positioning capabilities in their Wi-Fi chip, and had a demo that was very impressive. Many smaller companies that in past years were showing raw technology were showing polished solutions this year, such as Quuppa, MTI and Sensewhere, said Bruce Krulwich, Grizzly Analytics president, who has authored a report identifying 150 indoor positioning companies. “I definitely see a shake-out coming up, but it won’t be one technology prevailing over another. Different technologies meet different needs in the industry, and different technologies fit different sites. There are technologies that deliver universal indoor positioning, without any infrastructure or preparation, such as Wi-Fi multilateration and sensor fusion.”

    Krulwich said that there is a shake-out that’s already started because there are too many companies working on similar technologies. “Start-ups in the area that don’t have differentiating innovation, don’t have integration into retail or other back-end systems, and don’t have market penetration, are already finding themselves in a challenge. But companies with clear innovations and commercial deployments will do fine,” he said.

    United Kingdom-based Sensewhere is using crowdsourcing in its indoor positioning software. The software uses radios to scan for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to allow an IP location to reference the sources and form a location database.

    “It’s what we call the universal indoor positioning versus venue specific indoor positioning, which can work anywhere — we just need a crowd of people. Our target partners are handset manufacturers, network operators, social media, social network providers, and also chipset guys as well,” said Rob Palfreyman, Sensewhere CEO. “So, there are obviously a lot of companies like Google looking at venues; there is Micello and TomTom looking at add-ins in the indoor location, which is great news, but it just needs to have a technology that can drive the blue dot on their map, and we feel that Sensewhere is the right place to provide that blue dot because of the crowdsourcing global nature of our approach.”

    One company, which has developed a popular mobile game, is using its network to attract advertisers for its location-based ad platform. “We already have the infrastructure in place because of our mobile game. With our platform, we can allow advertisers to launch campaigns using our beacon signals and geofencing,” said Pedro Jahara, CEO of Brazil-based RevMob.

    New location technology like the ability to track SIM cards was rolled out at MWC. W-Locate, which is partnering with Morpho in Thailand, is tracking SIM cards with its XimLoc product, which the company said is more accurate indoors than other technology.

    Even such companies as Geotab, which is a strong player in the fleet market, are leveraging MWC to continue a foothold in the European market. The company displayed its IOX-CAN system that can send data from a mobile device to the MyGeotab system, which can be viewed an analyzed by fleet managers, said Maria Sotra, Geotab marketing manager.

    Geotab also partnered with Telefonica in November 2014 to focus efforts in Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom, Sotra said.

    At MWC, location-based advertising market is gaining traction as advertisers are seeing the benefit of locating and attracting customers. New York-based xAd said it has doubled its revenue for the second year. “We have billions of mobile ads processed and billions of ad impressions. The company is profitable,” said Dipanshu Sharma, xAd founder and CEO.

    He said the company has expanded into France and Germany and added China to its global ad network.

    Another company that is using location technology as a differentiator is Airpush, which had another big presence at MWC. The company’s Abstract Banners was a big draw to attendees. Location, particularly geofenced areas, have created a call to action for consumers, which is attractive to advertisers, said Cameron Peeples, Airpush vice president of marketing.

    Connected Car Still Big Opportunity at MWC

    Although the Geneva Auto Show was starting as the MWC was ending, there were still several big announcements by connected car companies in Barcelona. Even the well-publicized Samsung S6 and S6 Edge and HTC One M9 handset rollouts included Mirrorlink, the connected vehicle standard from the Connected Car Consortium.

    In another big announcement, Audi and AT&T said that all 2016 model vehicles equipped with Audi connect will come with the carrier’s 4G LTE or 3G coverage. This increase in services is big because the auto giant just rolled out 4G AT&T service in Audi A3s last year.

    AT&T selected Airbiquity to provide end-user registration and device management connected vehicle services for select customer programs. “Airbiquity will deliver these services to AT&T using our Choreo cloud-based connected vehicle services delivery platform and project management, engineering, and operations teams,” said David Jumpa, Airbiquity chief revenue officer. “This is a ‘white label’ agreement whereby AT&T will integrate Airbiquity’s service delivery capability into AT&T’s connected vehicle customer solutions.”

    Another location company is making huge inroads in connected vehicle markets with its Glympse for Autos product. Glympse will be installed in select Volkswagen and Peugeot models through MirrorLink, said Bryan Trussel, company co-founder and CEO.

    The app allows users to share location from their vehicle by setting the recipient and timer, and hitting send. The company has a similar app for Gogo inflight aviation networks to allow a person on the ground to know where an airplane is for picking up passengers.

    In other connected car news, Accenture is providing Fiat Chrysler Automobiles the capability of in-car, Internet-based services. Starting with the new Fiat 500X, Uconnect Live services, which was co-developed by Accenture, will power an infotainment system that offers music and news services, social network access, the ability to monitor driving style and a range of diagnostic services.

    Accenture also partnered with Visa for an IoT-based connected car commerce test. At MWC, the company tested a scenario where drivers could order food from the car using cellular, Bluetooth and beacon connectivity. Accenture deployed a similar system with BMW’s ConnectedDrive, which allows customers to choose services in real time for a vehicle.

    Health Market Even Has Location Potential

    Niche location applications are growing as Internet of Things, or IoT, markets start to grow. One company taking advantage of the mobile market is Annapolis, Md.-based TCS, which featured its VirtuMedix platform in its MWC booth.

    The platform is tailored to emergency physicians as part of the growing market for video telemedicine products and mobile health, said Jay Whitehurst, TCS commercial software group president. “It’s already saving lives,” he said of the platform, which combines encryption, navigation, mapping and messaging.

    While the product, now being rolled out in a North Carolina emergency medicine group, provides patients with an alternative to urgent care centers and emergency rooms, it also can be used for longer term cases such as assisted living and rehab centers, the company said.

    Whitehurst said TCS has made several company acquisitions that have played a part in new product rollouts, which include the company’s Trusted Location. The application allows financial firms, online gaming companies and others to identify and prevent credit-card fraud. The application identifies and validates a device’s location worldwide.

    In other Mobile World Congress news:

    • Spirent said its simulators have the capability to evaluate Wi-Fi Offload and Wi-Fi performance of mobile devices on its test framework. The new product allows companies to test multiple devices on a single unit to cover Wi-Fi/LTE mobility and interoperability. The testing is important in light of wireless carriers’ strategy to extend VoLTE in areas where cell coverage is limited, said Saul Einbinder, Spirent vice president, venture development.
    • Google Waze said its Google Mobile Service (GMS) will be available as a preinstall option on mobile devices. OEMs and carriers can preinstall the app on their handsets so consumers can use the service immediately, the company said.
    • Trimble’s ALK said its ALK Maps and route visualization software is now available in Europe. ALK Maps, launched in the United States in 2012, allows users to overlay routing, geocoding points, weather and other features, the company said.

  • Spirent Enhances GNSS Record and Playback System

    Spirent Communications has added capabilities to its ultra-wideband GSS6425, which enable recording up to 150MHz bandwidth of GNSS signals. Users can now record up to three RF frequency bands at any one time with 10-, 30- or 50-MHz bandwidth each. Other enhancements include the ability to record up to four video streams, USB 3.0 support and easy remote-control using tablet or smartphone.

    A single portable test system, the ultra-wideband GSS6425 allows customers to record GPS L1 and L2 and GLONASS L1 and L2 signals commonly needed for applications requiring very high accuracy such as surveying, precision agriculture, automotive research, and advanced navigation.

    “Customers undertaking field testing are increasingly looking for portable and easy to use test solutions,” said Rahul Gupta, commercial segment lead for Spirent’s positioning division. “With these new abilities they can now easily configure, monitor, and control the GSS6425 using their mobile phone or tablet over Wi-Fi.”

    Recording of four video streams by attaching webcams allows the user to capture visual records of any location. This enables users to fully understand the conditions at the time of recording, not only inside the vehicle (including activity on the dashboard, facial expressions, navigation unit, and more) but also outside the vehicle (such as top, front and back scenes, capturing building types, and movement in and out of a tunnel), which is useful especially during the post-processing phase.

    The support for USB 3.0 has also been added, to facilitate faster recording transfer to and from the test system. Users can also use this to record data straight onto to any external hard drive supporting this interface, to record for a longer duration of time.

    Spirent’s pecord and playback GSS6425 test solution provides a popular variety of applications, including:

    • Automotive R&D testing: With the connected car becoming a reality, record and playback testing techniques are proving to be very useful, saving engineering teams time and cost spent on drive testing. With the GSS6425, customers can not only record GNSS signals but also up to four video streams, CAN bus data and sensor data synchronously.
    • Authorized user tests: The GSS6425 can record GPS signals simultaneously for several hours at L1 and L2 frequencies — sufficient to capture both the GPS M-codes and Y-codes.

  • Markey Report Concerns Connected Vehicle Industry

    Editor’s note: Dennehy is GPS World’s editor for location-based services, writing a monthly column for the LBS Insider newsletter. The views expressed are his own. He will be covering the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona for GPS World. Contact him at [email protected] with your news. 

    Markey-report

    Sen. Ed Markey’s new car technology report, released earlier this month, basically says that connected vehicles can be hacked, causing danger to drivers and presenting major privacy concerns. While some critics believe Markey’s report was meant to drive media hysteria, others say it raises serious issues that the industry needs to address. In other location news, I’ll be covering the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona for GPS World. What will be the showcased location technology? Wearables? Connected vehicles? Or something new? 

    Kevin Dennehy
    Kevin Dennehy

    By Kevin Dennehy

    A report released by Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) earlier this month says that even though drivers have come to rely on new connected technologies, automakers haven’t done their part to protect them from cyber attacks or privacy invasions

    First reported by CBS News’ 60 Minutes, Markey’s report, Tracking & Hacking: Security & Privacy Gaps Put American Drivers at Risk, includes information from 16 automobile manufacturers who were given questions about security and privacy. However, few of the carmakers’ answers included how vehicles may be vulnerable to hackers — and what driver information is collected.

    Location industry veteran Kim Fennell, deCarta CEO, said the report should be a real concern to the industry. “But it’s more of an issue for autonomous driving and the security of the car’s electronic control system. Even today, the OnStar service, which was a pioneer in the connected car space, can remotely slow your vehicle down in the event of a theft,” he said. “This feature, if hacked, could definitely create massive problems if the proper security technologies are not implemented.”

    Markey’s report raised additional concerns about the use of navigation and other features that record and send location or driving history information.

    Markey-telematicsFennell said there should be a distinction between the infotainment systems in the vehicle and the on-board control systems of the car.

    “We believe that there should be a strict firewall between these systems so that nothing malicious can happen that is initiated from the connected infotainment system. Any data should flow one way — from the control system of the car to the infotainment system,” he said. “This is not to say that the connected infotainment system shouldn’t be secure, it should be. In working with our OEM and Tier One partners, we have implemented strict security protocols between our servers and their apps.”

    Markey’s report found that “[automakers] use personal vehicle data in various ways, often vaguely to ‘improve the customer experience’ and usually involving third parties, and retention policies — how long they store information about drivers — vary considerably among manufacturers.”

    In addition, the report found that customers are often not made aware of data collection and, when they are, they often cannot opt out without disabling features, such as navigation.

    Source: Kenvin Dennehy
    Percentage of Vehicles that can record driving history

    Overall, Fennell hopes that the most malicious thing that could happen in the event of a hack of an infotainment system is that a “Pandora station is changed to play nothing but Justin Bieber songs, the traffic information for your route is projected to be ridiculously long or the Yelp rating of the restaurant that you are going to is lowered down to one star.”

    Ultimately though, the driver should be in control of the car and nothing in the infotainment system should affect the behavior of the vehicle, Fennell said.

    In terms of driver safety, in a recent survey, deCarta found that more than two-thirds of respondents considered dashboard screens that display videos and other Internet content to be the most dangerous types of onboard information systems. Approximately 79 percent of those polled preferred “voice-activated mapping systems that allow drivers to keep their eyes on the road” as an essential safety-enhancing feature.

    “There are two things that infotainment systems could do better to prevent driver distraction. First, instead of replicating the stove-piped app store environment of the smartphone, in-car infotainment services could be better integrated,” Fennell said. “If I find a destination on Yelp, I’d like to send that to my navigation system instead of typing in the address. Second, with today’s better automated speech-recognition technology and text-to-speech engines, it’s now possible to make requests of your infotainment system using natural language commands. Voicebox is doing some great things in this area.”

    Fennell said that most existing systems are not connected. “But those that are, aren’t predictive enough. Your navigation/infotainment system should almost work as a concierge,” he said. “It should recognize what time it is and realize you are most likely leaving for work and offer up the best route based on traffic conditions. It should recognize that you are going to a destination in an urban area and offer the most convenient parking to your destination.”

    Company Rolls out Indoor Positioning Product that Doesn’t Require Retailer Involvement

    After testing and demoing the product in San Francisco last year, IndoorAtlas is rolling out a consumer app called GPSindoor, which uses smartphones to locate shoppers inside a mall. The product features product proximity advertising to allow shoppers to see where they are relative to a product for promotion marketing.

    The product includes a crowdsourcing function to allow user-generated data to build indoor maps, wayfinding and other options for shopping promotions, said Wibe Wagemans, IndoorAtlas president.

    “We don’t need any retailers per se. We need only the shopper and [their] smartphone,” he said. “There is no brand or retailer involvement if you use our app. Unlike Wi-Fi and Bluetooth beacons, since GPSindoor relies on a community of shoppers, it allows for higher accuracy than static maps. That gives us the confidence to take on the giants like Apple Beacons and Google Indoor Maps head on — we are completely independent of retailers and not dependent on them for our success in becoming the GPS of indoors.”

    In other location news:

    • HERE released a new version of its mapping system for Android, saying it made significant improvements. According to the company’s blog, after more than 3 million downloads, it is shedding the “beta” label with this version. In the beta version, when users asked for a route, the app gave them three car routes. If a user wanted public transit or pedestrian routes, they had to switch to the appropriate tab. This process was slow and inconvenient for people who don’t use a car all the time, HERE said.
    • In its recent financial statements, Garmin indicated a growing, and profitable, segment is its wearables/fitness band product line. Mio is also expanding its wearable offerings. This should be a big topic at next months’ Mobile World Congress.

    I’ll be covering the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona for GPS World. Contact me at [email protected] with your news.

  • Apple, Sony May Develop Self-Driving Cars

    Apple is working on its own autonomous car, according to Reuters. An auto industry source told Reuters that the tech giant is gathering information and parts to make a prototype for the autonomous electric vehicle — the entire car, not just automotive software or components.

    “They don’t appear to want a lot of help from carmakers,” said the unnamed source.

    Apple is gathering advice on parts and production methods, focusing on electric and connected-car technologies, while studying the potential for automated driving, the source told Reuters.

    “Fully automated driving is an evolution. Carmakers will slowly build the market for autonomous cars by first releasing connected and partially automated cars,” the source said. “Apple is interested in all the potential ways you can evolve the car; that includes autonomous driving.”

    Meanwhile, Sony is also turning to autonomous vehicles, according to USA Today. The electronics giant is teaming up with Japanese robotics company ZMP to develop self-driving automobiles, reports the Financial Times. Sony invested 100 million yen (about $842,000) in ZMP.

    Google has been developing its own autonomous vehicles for several years.

  • Mojio Partners with Dooing to Offer Live Fleet Tracking

    dooing-in-iphone6-171x300Mojio, an open platform for connecting cars, has announced a partnership with Dooing, a new team management platform for businesses that can dispatch jobs and track teams.

    “With Dooing, any business can dispatch jobs and track teams on the move, from three people to thousands,” said David Barton-Grimley, a Mojio developer and co-founder of Dooing. “iOS and Android apps are used to manage field staff, assigning and tracking a job’s life cycle from start to finish with reports on key performance metrics. Enterprises and startups alike can build Dooing into their own products with our API.”

    With the partnership Mojio says businesses can narrow down on fuel consumption, prevent breakdowns with diagnostics insights and track in real time.

    “Mojio is the first platform we’ve integrated into Dooing, enabling Mojio customers to track jobs with live fleet data,” Barton-Grimley said. “Additionally, we’ve added to the ability to track and report on key metrics like fuel consumption and distance traveled down to the specific job.”

    Mojio, the only open-platform connected car device — according to the company — has plans to continue growing its ecosystems of drivers, partners and developers.

  • Telematics Detroit Changes Name to Reflect Shift to Autonomous Cars

    Telematics Detroit, the connected car event, has officially changed its name to TU-Automotive Detroit to reflect the paradigm shift in auto mobility. The event will take place June 3-4 at The Suburban Collection Showplace in Detroit.

    The name change to TU-Automotive Detroit is intended to reflect how “automakers are evolving from heavy manufacturers into nimble technology companies and the self-driving car is moving from the realms of science fiction onto the reality of our highways. The car as we know it is rapidly changing,” organizers said in a statement.

    Experts will provide overviews in three core areas of telematics, mobility and autonomous cars.

    “Anticipating the future trends of the automotive industry is exactly what this conference has always been about,” said Justin Parker, project director. “Accordingly, the new angle of the show addresses the headline topics of mobility and autonomous vehicles.”

    Key topics:

    • Telematics – the here and now: Consider the building blocks of the connected car that continue to present challenges and opportunities such as the ultimate user experience, the connected society and the aftermarket. It is these foundations that are paving the way for the future of auto-mobility.
    • Auto-mobility: The role of the car is changing. From new ownership models to sustainable transportation and smart cities, get to grips with the technology and societal changes that are fundamentally reshaping mobility.
    • The autonomous car: Sensors, lasers, ADAS and regulators. The end-goal of the self-driving car is an exciting amalgamation of regulatory and technological developments. We’re deep into the journey of the autonomous car and now is the time for the industry to come together to collectively take the next step.

    Get the latest updates and information and register for the brochure with full speaker line-up and agenda.

     

  • By 2020 Connected Cars Will Mean In-Vehicle Services, Automated Driving

    By 2020 a quarter billion connected vehicles will be on the road, enabling new in-vehicle services and automated driving capabilities, according to Gartner, Inc. During the next five years, the proportion of new vehicles equipped with this capability will increase dramatically, making connected cars a major element of the Internet of Things (IoT).

    Gartner forecasts that 4.9 billion connected things will be in use in 2015, up 30 percent from 2014, and will reach 25 billion by 2020.

    “The connected car is already a reality, and in-vehicle wireless connectivity is rapidly expanding from luxury models and premium brands to high-volume midmarket models,” said James F. Hines, research director at Gartner. “The increased consumption and creation of digital content within the vehicle will drive the need for more sophisticated infotainment systems, creating opportunities for application processors, graphics accelerators, displays and human-machine interface technologies. At the same time, new concepts of mobility and vehicle usage will lead to new business models and expansion of alternatives to car ownership, especially in urban environments.”

    Gartner forecasts that about one in five vehicles on the road worldwide will have some form of wireless network connection by 2020, amounting to more than 250 million connected vehicles. The proliferation of vehicle connectivity will have implications across the major functional areas of telematics, automated driving, infotainment and mobility services.

    More detailed analysis is available in the Gartner report “Predicts 2015: The Internet of Things.”