The Automotive Revolution

It has become clear that to remain at the leading edge, UK automotive companies will be required to engage in developing partnerships in a new eco-system, centred around electronic systems and wireless connectivity.



In the high-end of the market, there can be over 100 individual electronic control units (ECUs), which are already creating considerable demands on power (energy) and space in the vehicle. Further to this the complexity, design flow, demands on integration and inter-operability all create challenges for automotive designers. New functionality and specifications often cannot be delivered with the existing components or developed quickly enough and integration projects can be expensive. Taking a new approach to Specification and Purchasing models within the automotive supply chain will be a key enabler for future innovative solutions.



Automotive electronics can be found in every corner of the modern road vehicle controlling and managing the vehicle performance and safety, assisting the driver in many different ways. Applications underpinned by electronic systems tend to be categorised under three or four headings that are almost universally accepted across the industry:



Body and instrumentation: In-cabin electronics (excluding specific items below), plus lighting and security.



Driver information systems: Satellite navigation and in-car entertainment. NB, occasionally managed under ‘body and instrumentation’.



Chassis and safety: Airbags, braking (ABS, regenerative and parking), radar/video lane departure warning, advanced driver assistance systems, etc.



Powertrain: Engine control modules (ECM) and fuel management, EV and hybrid system controls, transmission and power electronics.



Revealing trend data provided by Freescale in Figure 1 shows that electronics as a proportion of overall automotive content has risen from a figure of 22 per cent in the year 2000, to 35 per cent in 2010 with an estimation of beyond 50 per cent in the near future.





Figure 1: Auto electronic content growth, courtesy of Freescale



Automotive Markets



In conjunction with the growing opportunity for electronic systems in-car there is positive news on the health and growth of the UK automotive sector reported by SMMT which shows the UK is now home to seven volume car manufacturers, eight commercial vehicles manufacturers, 11 bus and coach manufacturers. On average, the UK produces 1.5 million cars and commercial vehicles and over 2.5 million engines. Of these, around 80 per cent of vehicles and 70 per cent of engines are sold overseas. The automotive industry employs over 730,000 people across manufacturing, retail and aftermarket sectors with approximately 145,000 people directly employed in manufacturing in 2010. Motorsport is also a key area with eight Formula One teams resident in the UK.



Given the ever increasing expectations of today’s motoring consumer combined with the relentless proliferation of vehicle safety and emissions regulation, all requiring elements of sophisticated electronic hardware, this information is perhaps not altogether surprising. Add to this the growing interest in electric and hybrid electric vehicles then the sustainable future of the automotive electronics industry looks positive.



AESIN



Recognising the challenges outlined above, NMI has been working with many of the country’s largest car manufacturers and supply chain partners including Jaguar Land Rover, Lotus, Nissan, McLaren Electronic Systems, Freescale, Infineon, Renesas and Visteon to create a new support network. AESIN (Automotive Electronic Systems Innovation Network) was launched in September 2012 and will spearhead a new approach aimed at supporting the automotive electronic systems community in the UK.



Embracing industry, academia and government, it will provide a platform to discuss and share thinking on key challenges. An example of this would be the move from vertical sources of engineering for sub-systems to delivering features on the car as an IP block. This approach avoids the need for detailed specification or fully loaded design and development costs. Additional challenges include the stringent safety critical automotive environment, which requires this innovative technology to be delivered in a way that is safe, secure, cost-effective and robust.



The NAIGT (New Automotive Innovation and Growth Team) report highlighted the Common Product Roadmap and Common Research Agenda for Automotive in the UK. AESIN’s programme of initiatives will work in alignment with this agenda through links to the UK Automotive Council. AESIN activities will include technology days that showcase innovation, innovation seminars to reduce technical and business model constraints and incubation sessions to progress ideas with UK funding support.



Acknowledging the UK’s strong base of vehicle, motorsport and electronic engineering capability, this new network provides a specialist home for electronic systems innovation and supply chain development. NMI is inviting those involved in UK Automotive Electronics to join the network, which will strive to explore and develop new thinking into tangible reality dealing with technical, business model and behavioural challenges; to accelerate the rate of innovation towards an agreed vision, leaving individual competitive positions ‘at the door’ in a goal to develop the UK as the World’s leading location for this concept.



Network Vision



From the OEM perspective the future need is to create an upgradable software platform, developing the car to be flexible enough to ‘fast follow’ developments in the consumer electronics domain in order to meet user’s expectations from a platform that must function for an order of magnitude longer than most consumer electronic platforms.



UK Automotive OEM’s will benefit from being at the heart of this new thinking, developing a lead in technical and business processes. The existing supply chain will benefit from their ability to adapt their products and services to this new world, building a platform for extending sales beyond the UK.



Working with some of the brightest minds to develop great automotive electronic engineers, Jaguar Land Rover has the challenge of consumer desire for in-car systems that can be updated almost like a smartphone, meaning they need to access a greater diversity of expertise to remain competitive.



In seeking solutions Jaguar Land Rover is supporting AESIN and has already identified initial focus topics such as software architecture, bandwidth considerations and systems engineering approach (hardware and software) as key priorities.



Building A Strong Supply Chain



Nissan Technical Centre Europe reported that the ever increasing use of electronics throughout their vehicles has enabled them to make leaps forward in safety and efficiency at the same time as bringing innovative and valuable features to all their customers. Electric Vehicles (EVs) have become a reality and electronic management, control and driver advisory systems are increasingly vital in the on-going reduction of CO2 from their internal combustion (IC) engine vehicles.



Working more closely with the key innovators within the UK electronics industry allows them to steer their product strategy towards a goal of providing innovative and valuable technology. An example of recent collaborative technology development was demonstrated at the AESIN launch where the Emerg-e Hybrid vehicle shown in Figure 2 provided an insight to the new breed of high performance EVs.





Figure 2: Evolving vehicle safety systems – courtesy of Freescale



Visteon integrates the electronic systems supplied to OEM vehicle manufacturers and has highlighted that consumer electronics is now driving new features, alternative media, and commoditisation with consumers demanding better user interfaces and connectivity as standard. OEMs are also observed to be driving brand differentiation through complex HMI features, which in turn are becoming progressively more software defined. Platform globalisation is also perceived to be accelerating as changes in business partitioning emerge with new entrants (e.g. traditional consumer). Key for Visteon will be the transition from transactional to collaborative relationships and development of open innovation culture engaging with broader supply chain elements.



Examples of challenges highlighted in the driver information systems include:

Smartphone integration;

Image recognition and augmented reality;

HMI design;

Display technologies;

Connecting the car to world around it;

Safety and security in the connected car



McLaren Electronic Systems develops electronics for both professional motorsport and road going high performance supercars and suggests one of the key agendas of AESIN will be to take a step away from what’s currently done and determine the true best practice; the constraints and competition in F1, IndyCar and NASCAR, providing an excellent environment for innovation.







One good example is highlighted in the area of system architecture; from engine control to the electric seats, countless electronic control units exist in today’s road cars which each add weight, space and cost. In F1 the drive to cut space and weight allowed McLaren to optimise the electronic architecture and adopt a single ECU at the heart of the car to control and monitor everything; from torque based engine control with precise fuel injection and ignition timing of an engine rotating at up to 18,000rpm, right through to elementary control of the driver’s drink pump.



Safer, Greener And Connected



Freescale has reported that the shift to designing cars that interact with a user’s phone presents opportunity for manufacturers; but, as driver distraction causes 25% of accidents in the US and 16% of all traffic fatalities at an estimated costs of $230 billion per year, it can’t just be enabling chatting or emailing in the car.



The collaboration between electronic firms and car manufacturers is paramount to define the next human machine interfaces and graphics solutions that allow safe connectivity.



Developing the evolving vehicle systems will require focus on electronics innovation, software and hardware co-existence, collaboration and providing guidance for those setting legislation.



The automotive electronics revolution is clearly underway as content in vehicles has grown rapidly from 22% to over 35% in only 10 years. Automotive electronic systems innovation represents a massive opportunity for the UK as vehicles become increasingly dependent on electronic systems. The successful launch of AESIN (Automotive Electronic Systems Innovation Network) in 2012 brings together key elements of the supply chain engaged in developing these Systems. The goal of accelerating the rate of innovation towards a common industry vision will be enabled through stronger communication links, opportunities for knowledge sharing and collaboration opportunities.



Editor profile: Paul Jarvie is the AESIN Network Manager within NMI



Contributing authors:

Stuart Bird, Systems Engineering Senior Manager, Visteon Engineering Services

Dave Battersby, Technical Specialist For Systems And Software, Jaguar Land Rover

David Moss, Vice President, Nissan Technical Centre Europe

Tim Strafford, Business Development Manager, Mclaren Electronic Systems

Andrew Birnie, Systems Engineering Manager For Automotive Body Electronics And Driver Information Systems, Freescale