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Volkswagen and automated park assist
After the Touran and the Tiguan, automated park assist is now available on the Passat. No need for the driver to hold the steering wheel and to turn the head. Thanks to camera and radar sensors, the on-board computer is able to calculate the best trajectory and to park the car itself. During last Hannover Fair, VW has shown that the car could even park with no man inside. The driver goes out of the car and let it do the job ! By the way, it was just a concept car and the technology (Park Assist Vision) is not ready, yet. Will it be James Bond’s next car ?
New piezo injectors for diesel engines at Continental
As experts know, piezo technology makes diesel engines efficient, clean and quiet. Now, Continental has the answer to meet environmental requirements about diesel. At the 29th Vienna International Engine Symposium, the Powertrain division has presented a new piezo injector with direct drive and closed-loop needle control, opening the way for engine developers to further reduce consumption and emissions. Even vehicles in higher weight categories will meet Euro 6 emissions standard without nitrogen oxide after treatment.
A new semiconductor facility for Bosch
Bosch is investing a total of 600 millions Euros for the building of a new Semiconductor facility and a new test center in Reutlingen, Germany. This is an important milestone. The plant will have a daily capacity of up to 1000 silicon wafers. The start of production is scheduled for mid-2009. The function of the wafers and the components will be tested at the new test center, which is currently also in construction.
New light electronic unit at Hella
The supplier is merging technologies in the aftermarket. A special housing can integrate both a rear view camera and a LED stop light for retrofitting. It may be useful for motorhomes and vans. This light electronic unit combines the advantages of LED (quick response, low power consumption and long service life) and comfort of a rear view camera (range of up to 92 degrees vertically and 120 degrees horizontally). This is also available for trucks and buses.
Honda and mobility
Everybody knows Honda’s expertise about cars, motorbikes and even planes. Some have heard also about Asimo the robot. But, did you know that the Japanese car maker had developed an experimental walking assist device for elderly people ? Applying cooperative control based on the information obtained from hip angle sensors, the motors provide optimal assistance based on a command from the control CPU. With this assist, the user's stride will be lengthened compared to the user's normal stride without the device and therefore the ease of walking is achieved. The compact design of the device was achieved with flat brushless motors and a control system developed by Honda. In addition, a simple design to be worn with a belt around the hip and thigh was employed to help achieve overall weight as light as approximately 2.8kg
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IAEC conference programme
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They confirmed their presence in the conference programme:
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Jean Luc Maté , CONTINENTAL
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Jérôme Perrin, RENAULT
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Marcus Leuz, R. BOSCH
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Bernard Sahut, PSA Peugeot Citroën
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Arnaud de Meulemeester, ATX Europe
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Pascal Six, JOHNSON CONTROLS
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Alain Bravo, SUPELEC
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Alain Dutheil ST MICROELECTRONICS
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Toni Müller, INFINEON
 More information
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LATEST NEWS
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Freescale Concept Car at IAEC 2008
IAEC will welcome FREESCALE Semiconductor on the exhibition area. Freescale will present his concept car that demonstrates the latest innovations in body electronics, safety systems, powertrain management, telematics and infotainment.
IAEC - SIA collaboration
The IAEC team is pleased to announce a special collaboration with the SIA. The Société des Ingénieurs de l'Automobile (the French Society of Automobile Engineers) is a society officially considered as serving the public interest. Its purpose is to represent technical excellence in the automobile industry through its expert and knowledge sharing networks. The SIA draws its members from the ranks of automobile engineers and technicians and all those active in promoting automotive engineering. SIA has 2 000 members and a network of over 8 000 engineers, technicians and research workers behind it. The SIA will organise 2 special workshops on November 4, 2008 dedicated to Automotive
Clusters.More information
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PARTNER OF THE MONTH
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About Vector
Vector provides OEMs and suppliers of automotive and related industries a professional and open development platform of tools, software components and services for creating embedded systems based on CAN, LIN, FlexRay and MOST as well as a number of CAN-based protocols.
Founded in 1988, Vector currently employs 830 people and has achieved sales of 124 million euros in 2007. In addition to its headquarters in Stuttgart, Vector also has an international presence with subsidiaries in the USA, Japan, France, Sweden, and the Republic of Korea. For the design of complex AUTOSAR systems, Vector provides a complete range of basic software and a seamless tool chain and attuned tools. Expertise in all AUTOSAR modules and tools is also available.More information
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The expert of the month
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Arnaud de Meulemeester, Senior Director at ATX Europe
"An internet browser adapted to driving conditions will appear soon in cars"
LM: Can you present us ATX company and its activities in Europe ?
AM: ATX is the first independent telematics services provider in the word. Operating in North America and in Europe, we’re delivering services for a fleet that is reaching today nearly one million vehicles. Our customers are car manufacturers. We’re operating services under their brand, with an expertise based on a ten years experience in telematics services.
Amongst these services, we can quote :
- located assistance and emergency call
- located based services for mobility, traffic and navigation
- websites dedicated to these telematics program
Our technical infrastructure has been conceived to be connected, from one hand, to the embedded systems from the OEMs, and on the other hand, to make a link with the contents and to offer the services scheduled for the customers. It is independent from the embedded platform.
In terms of activities, we're offering full packages, from the telematics program design (excluding the embedded platform) until the delivery of the service.
Our programs often include, from OEMs request or under our responsibility, some partners for added value contents or services : touristic guides, traffic services. We're operating as a project coordinator for telematics programs, integrator and provider of services.
LM: What’s your vision of the connected car ?
AM: The connected car is part of the DNA of the company. The first step, ten years ago, has been to bring more safety and comfort in the car with the E-call and the navigation, by a link with our call center.
Since then, we have seen an evolution towards more interactivity between the vehicle and the outside world, mainly to bring more content in the car (traffic information, thematic guides), but also to use some information issued from the vehicle, like diagnostics for instance.
In parallel, we have observed a breakthrough in the way people are consuming electronic devices and the Internet, with the birth of the digital age. The web is the universal key to access to all the contents, including personal services (with an emotional approach) or business. The technology is now « encapsulated » in the browser, through applets or widgets, and it’s no more necessary to install applications (a word that could disappear in a near future).
These new technologies allow an easier usage and a very convenient access to personalised data. That’s why Internet has become an universal success, at all ages.
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Our vision from the connected car is to merge with this evolution, but with an adaptation to take in account the particular context of the vehicle : safety first, quality, reliability. Communicating more and more, the car is going to lose embedded content. By integrating digital technologies, and thanks to a browser adapted to the vehicle environment, it will be possible to access to personalised services with an added value for the customers .
LM : ATX is involved in an initiative targeting to offer a safe web browsing in the cars. Can you tell us some more ?
AM: We think it’s necessary for the automotive industry to have a look on standards and new technologies that may give access to the Internet on board. An embedded Internet browser used in a vehicle will probably look like a PC browser. However, this would limitate the usage when the car is stopped, or for passengers only. And they already have access to the web, thanks to their mobile phones. The capability to offer a more evolutive interface, reconfigurable and under the control of the OEM, will change the driving experience.
The main feature of this Internet browser will be its ability to take in account driving conditions, in order to display useful information or an interface based on voice recognition. But the browser will only be the access mode, all the contents being delivered by a dedicated website. We think that this website should be also designed in taking in account driving modes.
ATX has invited the automotive community to launch an Internet extension dedicated to this industry (.car = dotcar), that would integrate these technologies and standards. The OEMs are the fist concerned by this initiative, but also suppliers for embedded platforms and also content providers.
This initiative has been launched with the Detroit-based CVTA (Connected Vehicle Trade Association) in the US, but we would like to extend the discussion in Europe
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