FEV - CONNECTING VEHICLES

The car as mobile sensor

8. April 2016 | Software & Testing Solutions

What is the current traffic situation? Are there any hazards ahead? What is the traffic light phasing? What is the current charge state in my electric vehicle?: The continually expanding networking between vehicles and their surroundings is an important trend in future mobility. Novel driver assistance systems and value-added services are greatly assisted by an intensive exchange of data via Car-to-X communication, making tomorrow’s mobility safer, greener and more comfortable.

Onboard telematics systems form the foundation for connected mobility solutions. These systems collect, aggregate and facilitate the exchange of the data generated in the vehicles with third parties. “We are deeply involved in the development of such systems and provide solutions for many different facets of connected mobility” explains Dr. Thomas Hülshorst, Vice President Electronics & Electrification at FEV. “Our subsidiary, DGE Inc., has been an industry development partner for tailored telematics solutions for more than a decade. Thanks to the addition of this expertise, we can now offer a broad range of services from design to end-to-end-validation.”

Mastering the complexity of modern telematics systems

Automatic test systems such as the FEV Telematics System Tester are instrumental in mastering the complexity of contemporary telematics systems in combination with back-end and internet services. “Our test systems can simulate both GPS and cellular radio signals. Additionally, the FEV Telematics System Tester can reproduce the complete communication chain from a smart device to the back end, on to the head unit and then further into the vehicle’s CAN bus. This allows easy validation of arbitrary scenarios.”

TST - Telematics System Tester

TST: FEV Telematics System Tester

Data, data, data

The distribution and storage of the data being exchanged is another important aspect of connected mobility applications. The main challenges are the sheer volume of data generated, the data rates, as well as the heterogeneity of the data. IBM has estimated that, already in 2015, there will be more than 200 million connected vehicles in the world exchanging more than 400 billion GB of data In parallel, the security of the data must be ensured at all times.

Platform independent and proven: telematics solutions by FEV

Based on the experience gained in various projects and many years of expertise in automotive development and software engineering, FEV engineers are able to support the development and implementation of powerful connected mobility solutions.

Since 2010, FEV has operated a fleet of connected electric vehicles for which all of the important vehicle parameters have been continuously collected and evaluated while operating in the field, using cloud-based services. One example of this is an FEV developed, cloud-based application that calculates the remaining range of an electric vehicle, based on vehicle data and other sources. “Other examples from our ongoing development projects include an application for cooperative detection and warning of hazard areas via car-2-cloud and car-to-car communication and an information service for localized, high-resolution weather data based on collected vehicle information”, concludes Hülshorst.

In addition to the design of back-end systems, data transformation and routing services, FEV also supports the user front end development which is an important element in using these telematics applications and enabling the configuration of the services from within as well as outside of the vehicle. In this field, FEV engineers focus on platform-independent web technologies to realize the corresponding apps and ensuring seamless integration with a variety of devices.

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