Intelligent solutions are in demand when it comes to handling the increasing connectivity of in-car electronic systems and keeping pace with the speed of developments in information technology. Such solutions make the interplay between an ever increasing number of functions more manageable and at the same time allow new, customer-oriented functions and services to be created.
Bosch Car Multimedia division
Approximately 6,200 employees in Bosch’s Car Multimedia division develop and manufacture infotainment systems and integrated solutions for automobile-compatible applications that meet the wide-ranging requirements of customers on the European, American and Asian automotive markets. Such devices include customized head unit solutions for multifunctional car radio and navigation systems as well as innovative instrumentation and display technologies for the automotive OEM market. The division’s expenditure on research and development will this year alone amount to approximately 240 million euros.
Connectivity with the outside world
Until now, vehicles have connected to the outside world primarily through radios and mobile phones. Such applications have already demonstrated the benefits of connectivity. The access to the Internet afforded by smartphones, the ability to connect USB devices and SD cards, and the connectivity options provided by standards like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and, in the future, LTE mean that there are even today multitudes of car drivers who want to make use of these technical capabilities in their vehicles as well. These technologies are becoming broadly established in all vehicle segments and are not spreading out from the premium segment as was generally the case in the past.
Connectivity at Bosch in particular means stimulating the integration of functions and apps from the world of consumer electronics and, by using Linux-based applications, from the open-source community. Bosch’s use of open source is swiftly transferring innovations from the cloud to the car environment. The automobile and the Internet are growing ever closer together.
The Car Multimedia experts at Bosch are also taking steps to simplify the integration of smartphones in cars by taking advantage of solutions like “mySPIN”. This technology allows users to operate their favorite apps on their Apple or Android smartphones with the accustomed commands and without any compromises in safe driving. The apps are operated on the vehicle’s display.
Connecting vehicles with one another and with the infrastructure
Our mission is to employ driver assistance systems and connected vehicles (Car-to-Car and Car-to-Infrastructure) to make road traffic even more efficient and safer. In the biggest European field trial of Car-to-X communication to date (simTD, Safe Intelligent Mobility – Test Field Germany), this networking technology has proven its suitability for daily use under everyday conditions and in lab simulations. Bosch has played a significant role in this joint project as a supplier to the automotive industry.
The car as a data supplier and receiver
Connecting automobiles is an ideal way to generate knowledge and enhance information by collecting data from individual vehicles and processing it to the benefit of drivers and the environment. Likewise, vehicles can be supplied with relevant information such as route recommendations or hazard alerts from the outside. This kind of connectivity opens the door to Bosch engineers for the development of new functions that heighten the safety and efficiency of road use. Traffic simultaneously flows more safely and more freely, and important warnings and safety alerts can be passed from one car to another in the blink of an eye. A typical real-world scenario is the presence of ice on the road just around a bend. Drivers are warned of the danger early on by the sensors fitted to the cars traveling ahead of them.
Navigation as a sensor – the electronic horizon
Bosch vehicle navigation systems create the “electronic horizon”. They look far ahead and offer information about the route being driven. In addition, they provide details about bends, uphill and downhill stretches of road, and driving lanes. This allows Bosch navigation systems to recommend routes that are particularly energy-efficient, to provide hints for improved fuel efficiency, and, in the case of electric vehicles, to calculate the remaining range with far greater accuracy.
Furthermore, features that cause the vehicle’s speed to be reduced such as city limits, bends, and speed limits, can be factored into the route calculated by the navigation system. Tests conducted by Bosch reveal that fuel consumption can be reduced by as much as seven per cent on non-highway roads merely by taking these factors into consideration; and if the vehicle also coasts with the engine turned off, as much as fifteen per cent is practicable.
The app as an assistant
Another example of Bosch innovation in this area is the “MyDriveAssist” iPhone app. The app uses the smartphone camera to detect traffic signs as it passes them. It subsequently displays them to the driver and simultaneously sends them anonymously to a cloud-based server. If this information – which is aggregated and verified on the server – is transmitted to other vehicles and communicated to the electronic horizon, new, useful functions can be brought into the car while existing functionalities can be improved.
Ease of use and information presented in the driver’s field of vision
One of the keys to the success of driver assistance and multimedia systems is their ease of use and the clarity with which they display information. This is where the interface between the driver and car, known as the HMI (Human Machine Interface), plays a most important role. The driver must be able to understand and operate the systems intuitively, using, as is the case with Bosch, natural voice input and innovative technologies like head-up displays.
Researchers at Bosch are also working on new ways of visualizing information based on“augmented reality”. Information such as navigation recommendations and forward collision alerts are displayed realistically in the driver’s primary field of vision and superimposed on the real-world scene in front of the vehicle. Thanks to this augmented reality, the driver is able to perceive and grasp the driving situation and what is happening around the vehicle much more quickly and safely.
Data security is maintained
When cars are connected to devices and vehicle-relevant apps, the high safety standards required for automotive electronic systems must of course be maintained. Keeping this in mind, Bosch uses a dual architecture approach to keep the driver assistance functions strictly separate from the infotainment system. What is more, a dedicated hardware security module will in the future provide additional security for data communications in every control unit. The Bosch subsidiary ESCRYPT is developing new security software for this purpose.
