How IoT technology will change the test culture
Cost-efficient solutions are a key factor in ensuring competitiveness in the development of future software-based vehicle functions. Due to the disproportionate increase in complexity, their validation and quality assurance is a high priority. In addition, the Corona pandemic shows how fragile current development processes are when local access to vehicle data is not possible. The use of IoT technologies can support the traditional development process and help in the transition to the software-defined vehicle. At the same time, the connection of cloud platforms provides cross-departmental access to test data, which also strengthens cross-domain holistic development, demonstrates synergies, and provides the basis for a sustainable value chain.

The approach presented here divides the phases of validation in terms of test equipment accessibility: local on site, conditional access, inaccessible.

Phase 1 | Local on site

IoT-enabled measurement equipment is installed to complement conventional measurement technology in the first phase. In addition to the vehicle status, this phase documents the functionality of all measurement equipment. Contextual information is thus added. If gateway functionalities are already activated at this stage, extended functions of conventional measurement technology, such as software updates, can also be used and additional added value can be created.

Phase 2 | Conditional access

In the next phase, the scope is extended by shifting the vehicle data acquisition from conventional to IoT-enabled measuring devices, thus freeing up existing resources. As accessibility changes, the need for management will increase. To ensure comparability of data, the scope or selection of data is of particular importance, as is the way in which this data is collected and stored. The shift in data collection also goes hand in hand with cyber security compliance issues.

Phase 3 | Remote access

In the third phase, as new features mature, the amount of vehicle data can be reduced to enable testing in the field with current mobile technologies. Evolving mobile standards and reduced latency pave the way for additional testing of intelligent vehicle-cloud interactions to offload computationally intensive and latency sensitive functions. This represents a bridging technology to the software-defined vehicle, enabling the use of cloud-vehicle loops and various downstream processing chains for efficient use of collected vehicle data.

Our Fleas do not only convince the automotive market – even motorcycle manufacturers like the french Newron Motors like to rely on our products. We’re really happy to announce that Newron Motors integrated our Flea 3 in their innovative electro motorcycle.

Beside the unique and modern design of the machine, Newron Motors focuses on the integration of new technologies. That’s why the vehicle is able to reach 0 to 100 km/h within 3 seconds and to achieve a top speed of 220 km/h. Thanks to the use of artificial intelligence, Newron Motors can offer a range of 300 km to the customers and is able to beat the average of the competition.

The company strives for customer satisfaction – the machine should become their best ally. Artificial Intelligence will allow the machine to optimize the route, energy consumption during the trip and anticipate the needs of the vehicle! A simple and optimized use, to allow the driver to ride confident by increasing his experience of riding a motorcycle.

Thanks to the connectivity to smartphones and tablets, the users can easily get information of the state of the bike, allowing to perform predictive maintenance.

Due to the remote data connection, the GPS sensor and the fast charging option, our Flea3 helps Newron Motors to develop and improve all of these features and we are very excited to see where the journey is supposed to take us!