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Intel Wants To Computerize Your Car
cartechboy writes: 'Google just unveiled its cute self-driving car prototype, and now Intel is the next tech company looking to get in on the rapid digital change coming in cars — a potentially lucrative area for expansion. Intel is releasing what it's calling an "in-vehicle solutions platform" — processors, an operating system and developer kits Intel is hoping automakers and others would use to build in-vehicle infotainment systems. From the developer perspective, there is a chance the Intel release makes building easier and cheaper. But is it good for automakers to be building these systems instead of Google and Apple? So far, no automaker has done so well on software, and some have seriously damaged their reputation (ex: MyFord Touch and Sync, Cadillac CUE).'
Why yes, actually, it is my job to sell microprocessors, and not to ask whether they are the right tool for the job. Why do you ask?
As far as I can see, that solves my infotainment "needs." What exactly am I missing out on?
Wait, since when has Ford Sync damaged their reputation? I've been very satisfied with my Ford Edge, and I've had a few Ford rental vehicles with Sync that I've had zero issues with. I find it hard to drive a car without that type of system in it anymore.
My car blue screening while hurtling down the highway.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
When a self-driving car enters a school zone and sees the "speed limit 25 when children are present" sign, how does it know whether a person it sees is a child? Does it always brake just to be on the safe side? And if no "end school zone" sign exists, does it keep on going 25 until it sees the next speed limit sign miles down the road?
Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
(I'm from the South, and it's already hot enough) I have no problem Intel flogging their kit to car manufacturers.
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
I try my best to avoid buying any car that has a computerized display that is a wannabe tablet or phone. Car manufacturers think they're so cute trying to roll their own solutions when in fact all they're making is dead end technology that makes their cars more expensive.
God spoke to me
The *only* computer i want in my car is my phone, so i can listen to music if i feel like it.
And yes, i realize that means no fuel injection, or other modern garbage, that has no business in *my* car.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
I don't want infotainment.. I don't want apps or wifi or cell network connectivity, or ads, or remote government tracking. I don't want large lcd panels or nagging proximity beepers either. Absolutely NO microcontroller driven functionality that might decide spurious negative values mean 'floor it', 'dont turn the radio on until the car is restarted', or 'the alternator needs replacing but really doesn't.' I want simple, tactile buttons and sliders instead of touch panels and tiered menus that require visual inspection. This way I can control the basic functions of the car without taking my eyes off the road. The HVAC controls should only have three knobs for the fan speed, direction, heat level, and AC button. Also, let me open the side vents to let fresh air in even while the AC is on. I am willing to tolerate a certain amount of complexity for the radio/sound system, but that's it. In fact, design the console so I can rip the radio out and put in one of my choice without making a bigger mess out of the offensively curvy and effeminate aesthetics of the interior and dashboard. It's a dashboard, not a catwalk for the sexually ambiguous.
Speaking of aesthetics, please stop overdoing it with the curves and folds and bubble look. Kia is the worst offender, but some of the other makes are pretty bad now. Just because you can mold that plastic into any shape doesn't mean you should. It's ugly. Stop. Also, I am an average height 5'11" male with medium/largish sized hands. Please stop modeling the ergonomics for a 5'2" soccer mom with tiny hands. I'm tired of bumping the signal/wiper blade controls randomly when I turn the wheel over.
Many cars sold today are so integrated with the radio that it makes it very expensive to replace the radio (that is if you can fit a standard radio in the dash)
I've got better things to do tonight than die.
Well they kind of do that already by require high specialized tools to repair certain systems. Although I wouldn't call that DRM being that it's not software.
I want to get in, turn the key, drive to my destination, and turn it off. Later, I would like to repeat the process to get home.
Intel and others take note: I do not want to Tweet, blog, Instagram, or masturbate to some kind if computerized entertainment system while this happens. I want to safely arrive where I'm going.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
I agree. You won't be allowed to open the hood, and check the oil level, or add windshield washer fluid, because of DRM/DMCA issues - you're messing with someone else's intellectual property, and might reverse engineer something and guess the passwords by which all parts, like chipped ink cartridges, interact, and build a replacement part yourself on a lathe instead of buying it only from the intellectual property holder of the car design. The only windshield washer fluid refill "cartridge" the car will accept will be one with a chip made by the original company, costing a mere $2000/gallon of windshiel washing fluid. Oh, and you can buy a new car for like ten bucks or free during special promotions, but don't expect it to run without these super expensive and chipped refill cartridges, inlcuding oil change chipped/passworded refill cartrdige, windshield washer fluid chipped/passworded refill cartridge, gasoline chipped/passworded refill cartdrige at a mere $10/gal of gas when other gas is $4/gal (hey the car was free, you gotta pay for it somehow!) Ah! The wonders of chips and computerization!
I'm honestly curious is this is going to happen. Much like the Smart house story from a few days back I wonder what's going to happen when more of this rather useless crap gets wedged into a car and someone has a real serious failure that results in a crash. Well... actually we may have already had that. There was some rumors out there that the whole Toyota brake system fiasco wasn't actually caused by some weird problem with the floor mat but was actually a software issue.
Either way I'm really wondering if all this extra technology is really all that useful. Compared to just keep the systems in a car kind of 'dumb' and just sticking to hardened PLC style systems for engine management. Nothing flashy, just something rugged that won't fail.
...and they want intel's relevance back.
I envy you. My dream car is a car-computerless Porsche, and I think all fuel injectors are computerized, so if carburetted, it's terribly inefficien at miles per gallon. Maybe somebody, like Tesla, needs to start an open source car that people can program all the chips themselves.
Why do I want this? Would it make my car drive better?
For everything else I prefer BYOD and to not be locked.
My Sunny Sunday convertible was made in the 80s, if it had integrated computer I'd still have to deal with DOS-prompt and keeping 64K clear. Today's cars and electronics will be 30 year old some day. Are you sure you want to integrate them?
They made a lot of Porsches with K-Jetronic. (mechanical fuel injection), 1970s - early 80s, maybe into the 90s on some models.
Though surely the later ones had a computer for spark? Which isn't related to the fuel injection... and could be deleted if you were dedicated, I guess.
various jetronic types were common on all the euro marques before 1995 or so. K doesn't require a computer. L has an analog computer, etc.
Sent from my PDP-11
I have a bug with points too - and solid lifters, a carb, generator, no AC and basically no heat without the auxiliary, and various other bits of cave tech..
But you do realize why we quit using them, right? If a new car needed new points and valves adjusted every couple thousand miles, no one would buy the bloody thing. It's simple, but it's still a PITA, especially for people that can't wrench.
Sent from my PDP-11
I just want my car to be a car. Hell, I barely even use the plain old stereo in mine. Anything some bullshit infotainment system can do, a smartphone can do faster and better. And you won't end up with a two-ton, obsolete, glorified tablet on wheels a year later (or less).
At most, any such systems should be nothing more than a standardized interface for controlling your smartphone. It could even have hardware buttons with standard control mappings, which would be great.
With the latest witch hunt out there for v"distracted drivers", I'm surprised I've never seen a proposal to ban or limit these things. I'm generally against curtailing technology by force of law, but in case, I would say good riddance.
alot more then just that with part time rules and in can very state to state and city to city.
A database may work but who will pay the ticket / points / ect when there is a data mismatch? and who is the driver? some tickets go the other driver other to the car.
autopilot software / hardware has lot's testing / code review and fail back to off when some bad happens.
Autodriver cars will need the same level of testing.
...General Motors announced that they want to motorize your computer. They plan to install a diesel engine and a steering wheel in every laptop. So far, no computer maker has done so well in providing fast-spinning hard disks and easy to use GUI, and some have seriously damaged their reputation (e.g. Windows 8).
and copyright trolls will join the **AAs to make such car not-street legal (even if it has nothing to do with the driving on street) ...so just after the Nth scandal of **AA making fools of themselves after issuing a C&D letter for reason of torrenting against the IP address of a networked laser printer, prepare yourself to read about a warning issued for reason of unlicensed washer fluid against the VIN... of a lawnmower.
and will sue presumed-fraudulent drivers automatic al.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Don't forget you have to watch ads on the HUD display when the car is stopped.
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
Yes, but airplanes cost in excess of 30 million USD. For that amount you can justify the high costs in testing, triplicate redundancy, and hiring code auditors, security auditors, every cable accounted for EM interference, etc.., etc...
You really think that your average car will have that level of redundancy and checks? Hell, the only reason airplanes have it is because it is mandated by the flight authorities. An Airbus or Boeing would not get type approval if they didn't produce certificates, and signed documents from all involved, that all the unit tests/audits were done, and passed successfully.
You really think automakers will do the same? It would drive the cost up immensly, and unless forced to, I suspect you will find most of the code will be a lousy hack-job done by the lowest bidder somewhere on the Indian subcontinent, a bit like most built-in car tech.
The only place this hasn't been the case is the ECU/EMU's. This is:
a) The only people who can do the job are competent already (very rarely can you find cheap, good, embedded programmers.)
b) the ECU/EMU controls fuel efficiency, and emissions, which the car has to pass to be allowed to be sold. Incentive to get it right
c) It is a very simple problem, relatively. Control of fuel/ignition timing, and power output/throttle control.
d) the project isn't very big (a few K of data/code).
e) It doesn't change much. It only gets refined with time (like the IC engine, which, as a concept is about 100 years old).
Also, the whole point of a driverless car is that you would be able to ignore the driving, and just go do what you want. However that level of sophistication has not even been reached in airplanes. Airplane autopilots, despite being around for decades, and generally dealing with a 3D space , in which 99% of it is air, still have software glitches/unexpected situations. That is why airlines still have highly trained people sitting at the controls at all times, paying attention and ready to make corrections if necessary.
I don't think a normal "driver" in a self driving car, will want to sit there and stare at everything around them, making sure the computer is doing the right thing. If you can't disconnect, and be a passenger, then you might as well be driving. Just as much effort, slightly higher risk of error, and you don't end up bored to death.
On the flip side, I don't think they can make a pure driverless car, just because driving is really complicated, and requires the ability to think ahead, and not just react to immediete events. Something AI is not yet able to do. You could make self-driving only roads, which area designed to not confuse the AI, and make everything work reliably. However then you've just really reinvented trains, with roads instead of rail.
The only place where I could see a self driving car working at all is on Motorways, due to their predictable, linear nature, no pedestrians and other obstacles, and clearly defined rules.
The school zone thing is totally open to interpretation.
The road to a friend's house passes one of those elementary school-public park agglomerations, with about a half-dozen baseball fields. He tells me the cops love to pull people over on Sundays when there's a single game at a ball field 2-300 yards from the road and school.
Why? Children present. Sign says "School Zone: 25 mph when children present". Doesn't mean school in session, school kids coming/going, etc, it means any damn minor around.
...are already computerized. The old '98 Jeep has a "check engine" light that has been on for about 6 years that says the oxygen sensor is out, but that was replaced 3 times and the light still keeps coming back on. Obviously, its the frappin' engine computer. No, I'm not replacing a computer, prolly $1200 - dunno, haven't looked - when I can just ignore the frappin' light.
The other car has had numerous failures connected to the computer, from the bad brake light switch that caused a "check engine" light that also disables the cruise control, and other failures that have also disabled the cruise control. The car has a "hill holder" function to prevent rollback and a stability control function that prevents skids which neither work because a "steering wheel angle sensor" is "throwing codes" and disabling those 2 functions. It doesn't disable the cruise control, so I can ignore it, although two warning lights on the dash are on permanently now, because I'm not spending $700 to have the steering column totally torn apart to replace that sensor (that may be a bad computer anyway, just like the Jeep), when I know how to do both of those functions all by myself anyway.
Self-driving car? They better have 3 computers in a "voting" arrangement and prohibit maintenance to them by anyone not having a college electrical engineering degree. These things may kill more than they save if you get Billy-Bob under the hood and stripping wires and putting them back together with black plastic electrical tape which will weather and fall off and then that wire shorts...
Yeah, and wait 'til I open up with a 1000 watt mobile radio that is my ham radio station, right beside the self-driving car, that is then jammed by the high power RF field and does an immediate right turn over the cliff and into the river below. Enjoy your self-driving car, and take swimming lessons.
They need a full-up, C3PO level of intelligence for the driverless car. Probably 50 years... if ever...
What, a car story with no reference to Tesla?
Tesla has a pretty good system. If they were interested in marketing it for other cars, they could probably have another solid business. Of course, they probably want to keep it for themselves to keep their cars more exclusive.
A couple of leap years back Zune's stopped working for a day and last time Azure stopped working. If a bunch as big as MS can fail in such an epic way that's a good sign to not be too dependant on date based software. Even if it's working perfectly local changes can make reality not match the database. When a school event is on a night or weekend the software is not going to be informed.
Is there a current model year car in the US that will run without computers today? Engine management, automatic transmission, RFID key systems, remote/button start, airbags, traction control, collision avoidance, backup cameras, auto headlights, the entire instrument cluster, the entire entertainment system.
I'd guess each and every car in production today in the US has at least 20 computers in it, doesn't that seem sufficiently "computerized"?
Understand that the processors in the computers are highly specialized to use the least amount of electricity and be the most reliable they can be. Has you engine every shut off because of a computer failure? The power usage is one that people don't seem to fully grasp. Your car generates its own electricity via the engine drivel alternator. IF you start tossing in high power general purpose CPUs and computer in the car you will increase fuel consumption for the added weight and power draw. It MAY be that the computer could offset those variables with added intelligence. Electricity use is one of the major reasons manufacturers are moving to LED lighting systems.
Article X: The powers not delegated... by the Constitution...are reserved...to the people
The inherit problem with computers in cars is that cars are around far too long while the rest of technology is either flexible to be updated or simply replaced. Most mobile phone users changed their phones every 2-3 years while most people keep a car 7 - 12 years.
At the end of the day the devices send commands to the onboard computer. As long as the logic put into these boxes and their configuration is simple (which it isn't in the older versions) than you do not need to worry about the aging of onboard computers as it now becomes the responsibility of the mobile device manufacturer to implement the API properly.
BSOD... Blue Smoke Of Death
Thanks for that info!
LG makes cars? For whatever reason, they seem to make quite nice phones, but they too are slaves to their own lawyers, in DRM/intellectual property bullshit up to their ears.