IBM announced a new Cloud-based service at IAA in Frankfurt this week to help automakers use driver and vehicle data for predictive vehicle maintenance, real-time diagnostics on engine trouble, and to guide drivers to the most efficient traffic routes.
By 2020, it is estimated that 90% of new cars will be equipped with extensive connectivity services. Automakers are increasingly using so-called IoT solutions (Internet of Things – more industry gibberish) that help to, allegedly, to deliver data generated from cars directly to the cloud for near real-time analysis.
IBM’s Internet of Things (IoT) for automotive solution built on the recently announced IBM IoT Foundation, helps automotive manufacturers gather data from individual sensors that can be combined with other data for real-time analysis. The service provides driver, vehicle and environmental insights through analytics, using both vehicle and geolocation data collected in the car. It also delivers new insights from third party data such as from parking providers as well as an automotive manufacturer’s customer data and vehicle history. In short, this is Big Brother taken to the tenth power.
Automotive supplier Continental is using IBM MessageSight and IBM InfoSphere Streams, components of the IBM IoT for Automotive solution, to help manage complex data streams and apply analytics to its eHorizon solution, which allows vehicle electronics to anticipate road conditions using digital mapping and crowd sourced data.
According to industry consultancy Frost & Sullivan, among the auto OEMs GM seems to be leading the way with their own internal route with their own data centers along with their legacy OnStar system – introduced 15 years ago – now with 4G LTE connectivity.
However, it does not have much ability right now to deal with recalls. The GM Driver Assurance program is set up to understand component durability using OnStar’s embedded connectivity and cloud based servers, but is looking at three things – the battery, starter, and fuel pump. It identifies diagnostic trouble codes that show an irregularity on the functions of these that are transmitted back to GM’s OnStar cloud server. This off board algorithm processing, processing information in the cloud eliminates the need for on-board processing that requires high computational capacity.
GM is not only minimizing its cost here because of their in-house embedded expertise and cloud processing, but it is also supporting customers with proactive monitoring of the vehicle. This is GM’s distinct edge to reduce recall/warranty issues and improve the bottom-line going forward.
