Automotive Design: It Started With A Software

No matter which way look at it, designing an automobile starts with the Customer Experience. 

As we reverse engineer from where we know we will be in the future, with autonomous driving, it comes back to the software. 

Hardware “platformed” cars are a thing of the past and rapidly transforming into software-based transportation platforms. 

The latest innovations: integrated personal assistants that operate from home to car to office  to lifestyle, self-driving abilities, and electrification, depend less on mechanical ingenuity than on software quality, execution, and integration.  

This is all happening so rapidly that automotive OEMs and other industry stakeholders are now struggling to keep up. 

siloed development

OEMs have become so used to an outsourced ecosystem that their first response is to disperse innovation and design to this or an evolving network, resulting in numerous siloed developments across integrated assistants, ADAS to mapping, telematics, and other third-party applications.  

Once the full compliment is available, OEMs or their tier-one suppliers try to stitch the modules together into a proprietary platform.

We are entering a new age in which automotive features increasingly rely on seamless integration among multiple vehicle subsystems.

increasing demand, increasing complexity & a lack of manpower 

We’re, as the consumer surrounding ourselves with personal devices and digital assistants no matter where we are and we expect none less so than in our transportation. 

To make this happen in each software requires  several hundred software engineers contributing to each iteration and 30 to 50 percent is commonly dedicated to integration, given the broad network of suppliers involved in development. Changes to any one software module often require extensive rework. These systems are not always backward compatible and thus require extensive redevelopment every few years to stay up to date with new features and performance.

With the gap between complexity and productivity widening, OEMs and tier-one suppliers will soon face a massive talent shortage and a huge increase in development costs. 

software: it’s a different way of thinking

Developing software is of course a very different process to that of automotive hardware. 

The creativity part is the hardest. Complex software solutions have long development & testing timelines and that’s without further consideration of the increasingly complex cyber-security environment.

Once created, the application stage is essentially loading the programs into the car’s electronic systems.

A vehicles software capabilities, like most other equipment sectors are having a growing impact on car sales. I for one today wouldn’t buy a vehicle unless it was fully integrated with my Apple devices and offering seamless connectivity. Like many others, I’d compromise more traditional luxury features for software integration. Many think of Tesla’s success as an EV, whereas its true success is in the CX!

This indirect impact is based on the how well the software implements the human-machine interface (HMI) or feature usability. The software usability impact is across all of the growing features—connected car functions, Over The Air (OTA) upgrades, functional upgrades, ADAS and future self-driving features. Poor software usability will create negative reviews of cars and will lower future sales potential.

bringing the platform

It’s the world of Platformization that allows the network effects to evolve. It’s been Apple’s iOS & Android’s approach; building a platform for developers to prosper through speed of integration, minimum viable product introduction and onward to some of the most used apps in the world. 

Most of these advantages are due to the benefits from traditional values of using building blocks that are re-usable and can be updated. The main advantage is the lower cost of re-using a software platform and shorter time to market.

The key to a software platform is the application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow the modular building block structure and communication between the software modules or platforms. The APIs for a specific software segment, if successful, create a growing ecosystem of additional compatible software modules that over time greatly increases the value and use-cases of the platform.

software & the battery

Software is even more critical, particularly for trade-offs between performance and range. For instance, thermodynamics: In ICE vehicles, engines generate excess heat and power that climate-control systems can use, but EVs do not have this capability. In fact, range falls off by as much as half in very cold or warm environments, when drivers are more likely to set air conditioning or heating on high. To manage these trade-offs, EVs will need to rely on efficient software systems to coordinate across domains.

the way ahead

Right now, I am working with and know of various EV OEMs embarking on the software 1st path, designing its electronic systems to share a common software foundation:

• Nearly all the systems can seamlessly communicate and receive updates OTA.
• New software-defined features are deployed as they become ready and can be further improved over time.
• Security and safety vulnerabilities can be rapidly identified and handled.
• Development efforts can be streamlined over the long term, with teams efficiently executing improvements rather than battling with a stream of system interfaces.
• Performance and usability data are even collected across fleets and fed back into R&D to inform future features and help prioritize projects. 

The path to this end-to-end platform will be complex. Over the next few years, consolidation of today’s complex vehicle architecture into even two or three leading platforms could represent a first step. But one thing is clear: increased integration, driven by the customer experience demand is essential.

My name’s Andrew Sparrow and I’m an ACES Vehicles nut! (Autonomous, Connected, Electric & Subscription)

I blog, vlog & podcast passionately about our need to innovate & thrive, about managing the product lifecycle (PLM) & ever improving smarter manufacturing (MES/MOM/Digital Manufacturing) and above else bringing great people, great IT and Engineering skills to great projects.

I love & thrive in working with some of the world's largest companies such as Airbus, Capgemini, Dassault Systemes, Ericsson, JLR, TOTAL, Siemens, Sony, Subsea7 & Unilever, to name a few

I'm a big people-person & have spent my life meeting as many people & cultures as I can. At my last count, I am lucky enough to have visited & done business in over 55 countries

So far my community is 20,000+ strong & continues to grow, as I try to bring value to that audience through my vlogs, blogs & podcasts

You can reach me on: 31 367-4123 | [email protected] | [email protected]

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