Automotive On-board systems and Telecommunications
CarTelematics is a suite of technologies centered on communications systems within cars. This is set to have a major impact on the automotive industry by delivering an enticing variety of in-car services that will revolutionize the driving experience:
Safety and Vehicle Dynamics
Accident data recording
Adaptive cruise control
Brake-by-wire
Collision avoidance
Steer-by-wire |
Car and Customer Oriented
Remote diagnosis
Tuning while driving
Preventative maintenance
Warranty, call backs (RFID)
Infotainment
Real-time route information
|
Safety Oriented
SMS in case of accident
Emergency services
Roadside assistance
Traffic control systems
|
Body and Convenience
Blind spot detection
Keyless entry / car access
Park distance control
Smart card
|
Powertrain
Drive-by-wire
Engine management
Transmission control |
But before this vision can be realized car manufacturers still need to build a viable business case for the required investments. Furthermore it is very unlikely that any telematic offering developed several years before a car is launched will be able to remain attractive throughout the car’s eight to ten year life span. Manufacturers are therefore shifting their strategies and focusing on pursuing only a few core telematics applications and are looking for suitable partners and/or co-developers of such offerings.
Atos Origin, with its long track record in developing on board systems (including for the aerospace market), has identified telediagnosis as a prime focus application for consideration by manufacturers and been investigating solutions in this area.
Telediagnosis is defined as the real-time processes of acquiring operating and maintenance data, detecting potential and actual failures, alerting the driver and other concerned parties, taking other actions necessary to bring the vehicle to a safe state, performing diagnosis and prognosis, and controlling maintenance action designed to return the vehicle to an operational state.
Supplementary processes include logging and analyzing the fault data, determining the optimum capacity and deployment of the resources needed for maintenance (e.g. spare parts, trained maintainers, test equipment, vehicle repair facilities), refining and distributing the information needed for maintenance (e.g. maintenance manuals, illustrated parts catalogues), and revising the maintenance policy for the vehicle and associated spare parts (e.g. Reliability Availability and Maintainability (RAM), Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Level of Repair Analysis (LORA), extending service lives and on-condition maintenance, etc).
Business Drivers behind Automotive Telediagnostics
Atos Origin’s recent R&D study in the domain of automotive on-line features such as telediagnostics has identified many stakeholders that can potentially benefit from the value proposition of a car self-detecting potential failures and communicating this information with others.
Based on Atos Origin’s knowledge of telediagnostics in a wide variety of markets, we believe that the categories of organizations and people that could be affected by telediagnosis in the automotive industry include:
Furthermore, Atos Origin has identified possible value propositions that make the case for manufacturers to consider equipping their vehicles with such functionalities and which will provide individual benefits for each of the stakeholders mentioned.
The result will be a truly connected automotive community combining many different services, supported and connected through the leading mobile voice and data telecommunication operators, and leading to greatly increased safety, comfort and customer satisfaction and loyalty.