The automobile has wrapped up another virtual future car year at CES 2022, and despite the fact that we were unable to attend in person, one thing in the automotive field became crystal clear: your automobile is about so much more than mobility. In fact, peasant, if you think a vehicle is just for getting you from point A to point B, you’re mistaken!
Your automobile is a third area, a place where you may work, lounge, or watch TV, at least in the views of automakers and tech companies. It’s a device that connects you to the rest of your life’s devices. It’s a personal assistant who anticipates your wants by creepily watching and recording your every action.
The key topics this year were inside-vehicle services and experiences, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), and automated driving features that take care of part of the drudgery of driving so you can enjoy those experiences, and the computing power required to deliver it all. Of course, there was also another automobile technology on display, such as BMW’s color-changing car. NFTs made an appearance as well. This is the in-vehicle technology that caught our attention.
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For the win, use computing power
Digital cockpits, which transform the front cab into a world of digital material, entertainment, and services, received a lot of attention. Many firms tossed around the phrase “co-pilot,” which might include voice assistants or even true driver-assistance systems that can control some parts of the vehicles, depending on how that company interpreted it. And there were strong hints that one should never, if at all possible, quit viewing TV or streaming video, especially while driving. All of this necessitates processing power, and the automotive chip race was in full swing at the 2022 CES.
At CES 2022, Qualcomm reaffirmed its commitment to enabling automotive in-vehicle technology by announcing new OEM clients. Snapdragon Digital Chassis from Qualcomm provides automakers with a platter of cloud-connected “platforms” that include systems on a chip (SoC) and software that can be adopted in full or piecemeal.
The Snapdragon Ride Platform for ADAS and automated driving, the Auto Connectivity Platform for LTE, 5G connected services, cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and precise positioning, and the Snapdragon Cockpit, a digital cockpit, and infotainment system, are all included in the chassis. Volvo and Honda have revealed intentions to integrate the digital cockpit into upcoming electric vehicles, while Renault has expanded its relationship with Volvo to cover everything the chassis has to offer. Snapdragon will also be used by General Motors to power its next-generation ADAS.
The Drive Orin SoC from Nvidia
While Qualcomm’s SoC powers Volvo’s infotainment, Nvidia’s will power the company’s new autonomous driving (AD) features. TuSimple, a self-driving trucking startup, said at CES 2022 that it would employ Drive Orin to power and scale its self-driving technology. Nvidia’s chip is a central computer designed exclusively for autonomous applications in intelligent vehicles. It does 254 trillion operations per second and has the auto-grade computational capability required for self-driving functions.
Jiddu Auto, Baidu’s electric vehicle division, has also revealed that the Nvidia Drive Orin SoC will be used. This next-generation vehicle with Level 4 autonomous driving capability will debut in April at the Beijing Auto Show, with mass production and delivery scheduled for 2023. Polestar, IM Motors, Li Auto, NIO, R Auto, and Xpeng are among the companies that use Drive Orin.
Intel-Mobileye
Mobileye, an Intel subsidiary, has announced plans to release a new supercomputer that would enable autonomous driving in passenger vehicles, trucks, and SUVs.
At the 2022 CES technology trade show, the company unveiled EyeQ Ultra, a new system on a chip designed specifically for autonomous driving. The initial silicon for the EyeQ Ultra SoC, which is capable of 176 trillion operations per second (TOPS), is due in late 2023, with full automotive-grade production beginning in 2025, according to the company. EyeQ6L and EyeQ6H, the company’s next-generation EyeQ SoCs for sophisticated driver-assistance systems, was also unveiled at CES.
Everything was linked together.
What happens when you combine the internet with a vehicle’s tremendous processing power? A sci-fi universe filled with fantastic, if not unneeded, technology that allows car owners to connect their digital and physical worlds. Want your car to order a pizza for you as soon as you leave the office, so it’s hot and waiting when you arrive home? It is possible. Do you want to know how powerful your battery is and how far your vehicle can travel? Speak, and it will be given to you. Do you want to kick back and watch the most recent episode of “The Wheel of Time”? There’s also technology for that.
The in-vehicle technology on show at CES hammered home the concept of the car as a connected gadget designed to make your life easier, smoother, and more enjoyable. Many automobiles today use Android’s auto operating system for their infotainment systems, making it easier to access your phone and compatible apps from your car. Google took it a step further this year. Volvo and Google established a partnership with the Google Home ecosystem, allowing Volvo car owners to use Google Assistant-enabled devices to make voice requests. They can instruct the assistant to switch the car on and off, heat or cool it, and provide vehicle information such as battery life. Thanks to both Google integrations with Volvo vehicles and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon cockpit, Volvo also announced intentions to offer YouTube app downloads.
Google also improved its digital auto key with BMW, allowing customers to lock, unlock, and start specific BMW vehicles using select Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones. When the gadget comes close enough to the car, it will automatically unlock, and users may share their digital car key with friends or family.
Amazon
Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa has already appeared in a number of automobiles at CES. Alexa’s power is combining with Amazon’s Fire TV streaming platform this year, which is making its way into more cars.
Last year, global carmaker Stellantis integrated the Fire TV into its vehicles, and at CES 2022, we’ll see some Jeep, Chrysler, BMW, and Ford vehicles’ in-car entertainment systems get an upgrade as well. More than just a TV streaming platform, the Fire TV for automobiles will do a lot more. It’ll sync with Alexa so that drivers and passengers can simply say a command and “Olaf Presents” will start playing in the backseat while your kids are blissfully silent. Users can also use voice commands to ask Alexa to play their Ring doorbell video on the Fire TV.
Stellaris and Amazon are becoming further closer. Stellaris announced a broad relationship at CES 2022 that will touch practically every aspect of its operations. Stellaris will employ Amazon’s technology to assist in the development of vehicles, the creation of connected in-vehicle experiences, and the training of the next generation of automotive software developers. Stellaris has chosen Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its preferred cloud provider for automotive platforms as part of its multi-year agreement. Stellaris, which recently opened a software academy for existing and prospective employees, is also collaborating with AWS to develop a software, data, and cloud technology curriculum.
Cerence
The software has announced Clarence Co-Pilot, in-car assistance that employs continuous learning to anticipate drivers’ requirements and start proactive actions. The co-pilot uses the car’s sensors and data to analyze the surroundings both inside and outside the vehicle, assessing things like speech, sight, gesture, and touch to understand user preferences and conduct auctions on behalf of the driver.
Clarence’s co-pilot can operate smart home and IoT gadgets, authorize in-vehicle payments, and notify drivers about auto maintenance needs, including booking a trip to the shop for them. While France did not reveal which automakers had agreed to integrate the co-pilot, a video displaying the technology showed Volvo, BMW, Audi, and Mercedes, all of which have previously cooperated with the business.
Blackberry
Blackberry Ivy, the company’s intelligent vehicle data platform co-developed with Amazon Web Services, will be integrated into Patio’s digital cockpit solution as part of a relationship with Patio, a Chinese provider of internet-of-vehicles services and products. To pilot the cockpit on its electric model series, the two businesses will partner with an undisclosed Chinese carmaker.
The software business most known for its smartphones didn’t reveal much about the cockpit’s design, but it should include intelligent voice, entertainment, vehicle health monitoring, safe payment, and cloud technologies, among other things. Electra Vehicles’ EVE-Ai 360 Adaptive Controls, which predicts battery state of charge, state of health, and projected vehicle range, will also be used by Blackberry and Patio.
ADAS/AD
Autonomous driving has become a hot topic in recent years. This year’s focus was on advanced driver-assistance systems, which promise to bring limited automated driving capabilities to consumer cars. Automakers are striving to automate key aspects of the car, such as parking and highway driving, thanks to developments in-vehicle sensors, computational power, and software. That’s not to say that businesses working on so-called Level 4 autonomous driving didn’t attend CES; they just weren’t the loudest this year.
Ultra Cruise is a new product from General Motors
As previously stated, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon SoC will power GM’s new Ultra Cruise hands-free ADAS technology. The Ultra Cruise technology was presented by GM in 2021, but this was the first time we learned more about the computation and some of the capabilities. The system replaces the automaker’s Super Cruise ADAS, which was first presented in 2017 and is expected to handle 95 percent of all driving conditions.Ultra Cruise, which will be available in 2023 on the new electric Cadillac Celestiq, will use sensors such as cameras, radar, and lidar (not just lidar map data) to provide data to GM’s algorithms, which will subsequently make decisions.
Volvo’s Ride Pilot
Volvo unveiled plans to introduce Ride Pilot as an add-on subscription to an electric SUV that would be revealed later this year, in collaboration with lidar startup Luminar and AD software company Zenseact. Ride Pilot is an “unsupervised” AD feature, which means it can drive itself when on specified highways, allowing users to go completely hands-free and do other activities like the YouTube watching we discussed previously.
JiDU
JiDU, the electric vehicle startup of Chinese internet giant Baidu, announced at CES 2022 that it will use Nvidia’s Drive Orin SoC to power its first production EV model, which is anticipated to begin deliveries in 2023. (as mentioned above). The business said it would have Level 4 autonomous driving capabilities, which it would show off at the Beijing Auto Show in April.JiDu is only a year old, yet in its SIMUCar, it recently demonstrated intelligent aided driving in both urban and high-speed zones.
Cadillac
While not wholly focused on autonomous driving capabilities or ADAS technologies, the interior of Cadillac’s future driverless automobiles is worth highlighting. Its InnerSpace idea displays a two-seater car that looks like a spaceship from the exterior while still looking like a spaceship on the inside. But in the style of a sultry spaceship. Instead of the separate driver and passenger seats, there’s a luxurious and stylish sofa with a built-in ottoman and storage for slippers and a blanket. A huge, curved screen sits just a few feet in front of the passengers’ heads.
