An Overview of In-Car Information Systems.

University Degree Mathematical and Computer Sciences

Scott McCulloch Information Systems

Matric No. 200315724

An Overview of In-Car Information Systems

Recently, automotive electronics have undergone a revolution, in the same way that the home PC has revolutionised the way we work and communicate. The field is one of the most interesting and varied of all information System topics.

Since the late 80s, the term ‘on-board computer’ (or OBC) is an item many prospective buyers have checked on the options list when purchasing a new car. Today’s multimedia equipped vehicles are light-years ahead of the old generation of OBC’s in all respects. Several new models from leading executive car manufacturers already come with systems allowing the owner of the vehicle to, for example - access the internet and email, watch a television broadcast, get GPS and route navigation information, listen to a variety of music formats, use an inbuilt mobile telephone, adjust climate control, change driving characteristics and much more, all from one central console.

However, these devices, which have little to do with the actual driving of the car, are becoming more and more advanced – presenting many problems for designers and users alike. The permanently increasing complexity of in-car electronics and the rapidly growing amount of sensors, actuators and electronic control units, make the data increasingly more difficult to keep secure, correct and failsafe.

In a recent survey carried out by Goldman Sachs in America, there are approximately 200 million cars in the United States and an incredible 500 million passenger hours each week is spent inside them. In another survey, Delphi Automotive research found that more than a third of PDA owners use their PDA’s whilst driving and that almost half of all US motorists would like the facility to access their e-mail whilst on the road.

The survey also claimed, that if the current trend continues then in-car voice controlled data systems could become a $30 billion business in less than a decade.

Car makers are, of course, nervous about motorists not paying attention to the road and having accidents, as well as the remote possibility of a glitch in the add-on electronics triggering a brake seizure or engine shutdown. The possibility of expensive lawsuits against them is a risk that they do not want to take. This threat has, until now, made most mainstream manufacturers shy away from providing too much computer control in their vehicles. In recent years this has led to a surge of activity in the development and sale of add-on products by third party manufacturers for vehicles to provide entertainment, navigation and comfort controls. Now the trend seems to be for car makers to provide much more complicated electronics as standard in even comparatively cheap models. All of this has predictably created a huge debate as to whether this type of electronic aid should be allowed to be used whilst driving the car or at least whether these aids are wanted or not.

Studies into driving safety are, of course, not new. Driving whilst Drunk or under the influence of drugs has for many decades been seen as a serious problem on our roads and can result in a ban for the offender, if caught. More recently though with the widespread use of mobile phones, legislation has been put in place in order to make our roads safer. As of the first of December 2003, the use of mobile phones whilst driving in the UK has been made illegal due to an increasing number of mobile phone related incidents on the roads. Many now argue that tuning in a car radio or programming a GPS system whilst on the move is just as dangerous whilst driving, though no laws exist currently in the UK to restrict the use of these whilst driving.

In America, many cities and states have similar laws regarding mobile handsets and many arguments on the safety of in-car electronics have been made. The New England Journal of Medicine, for example, published an article in 1997 claiming that cell phone users have the same chance of accidents as drunken drivers and also warned against concluding "that cellular telephones are harmful and that their use should be restricted”. Currently the trend of developments in in-car information systems should create a safety problem, every bit as large as the one we are facing right at the moment with mobile phones. It is important that the subject is investigated and guidelines are imposed now whilst the technology is still growing.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Interestingly, in-car information systems are not a new idea, car phone systems and navigation systems have been developed since the late 1960s when the idea of a system to provide directions to the driver, rather than have the driver look at a traditional road map was originally conceived. The first of these devices were simply tape recorded spoken directions played in a special player that allowed the driver to skip forward an instruction or replay the previous one. The second generation of car navigation systems arrived in the 1980s when the home computer revolution had begun. Devices such as the ETAK Navigator usually comprised of a small black and white monitor sitting in the dashboard connected to a computer that could display a map of the local area from its database and used dead-reckoning to find the user’s current location and display it on the map. The system, however, could not calculate routes for the driver and so functioned as an ‘automatic map’.

In the year 2000, the American Department of Transport commissioned a report on the influences of using electrical equipment whilst driving the vehicle. The report was commissioned to prove scientifically whether the equipment had a detrimental effect on the amount of control of the vehicle and whether any effects varied from person to person. The report was specifically asked to recommend guidelines for a ban on the use of route guidance equipment during vehicle motion.

During the test the subjects were trained to use a large variety of in car equipment of differing brands in a parked vehicle including- car telephones, GPS navigation equipment, car Hi-Fi equipment and vehicle climate control adjustments. The tests were carried out on a test track.

The Department of Transport decided that a “15 Second” rule should be followed, i.e. that if a function takes longer than 15 seconds to perform, and is seen to have a detrimental effect on the drivers’ control of the vehicle then it should not be available whilst the car is in motion.

In brief, the findings of the report were as follows:

It took the subjects longer than 15 seconds to manually tune the navigation systems to a destination and this also caused problems with driver control.
Keying an unfamiliar number into a car phone also caused lane disruption and took longer than 15 seconds to perform.
It took the average user less than 15 seconds to manually tune a radio station into the car stereo. However this task created disruption in lane keeping.
Keying a familiar number into a car phone and using the car air conditioning systems however could be performed without too much disruption to the control of the vehicle and took less than 15 seconds on average.

After the completion of this report, the US government decided to implement the so called ‘15 second rule’ (its official title was SAE J2364), the law was passed by a majority of just 1 vote under the premise that an imperfect rule was substantially better than having no rule at all when safety was concerned. However, this law only affects car navigation system however and not other forms of car electronics. Since America is one of the largest markets for electrical equipment, this standard has become used internationally by developers of in car products since the survey was commissioned in 2000.

Current in car technology has leaped forward in the few years since the American survey took place and the current trend for European luxury car manufacturers is to use one information system to control the entire operation of the vehicle. This presents major safety concerns and has prompted renewed interest from governments on the subject of car electronic systems and aids.

BMW, the German car builder, was one of the first manufacturers to adopt Microsoft’s Windows CE operating systems in its cars. The current 7-series model was the first car built by BMW built which relied on a central information system for the control of a variety of non-critical functions of the car.

BMW’s design concept was to provide the driver with a clutter free environment, which was not only less confusing to use but also allowed for a more attractive interior layout. Technicians at BMW’s technology centre in Munich broke the driver’s view down into two zones – a driving zone and a comfort zone. The functions most important for driving and safety on the road are all located directly in front of the driver, like in a conventional car. e.g. the steering wheel, accelerator and brake pedals, windscreen washers, indicators and headlight controls. The driving zone also included a push button start and ignition switch. The comfort zone takes control of almost every other non-critical function of the car like climate control, HiFi, television, navigation and car phone etc.

The ‘comfort zone’ functions are all controlled via a central computer running the Windows CE operating system called iDrive. The system is designed to allow the driver (or passenger) to adjust over 700 functions of the car. This system is based around a 16:9 widescreen monitor in the centre of the dash in the line of sight of the driver and an 8 directional mouse like controller where the gear lever is normally situated in a standard car.

Some of the features of the top of the line, 760iL include the following items listed in the brochure:

2 iDrive controllers (one for the driver, one for the back seat passengers)
DVD 6 disc changer linked to 2 monitors (front and back)
CD 6 disc changer linked to a 13 speaker surround sound HiFi
Cooling box behind rear armrest for chilling drinks
Electronically adjusted seats (front and back)
Air conditioned seats (both heat and cold to give comfort)
2 car phones (one in the front armrest, one in the rear. Features a phone directory stored in the computer)
Active seats (the seats gently massage the spine of the occupant during long journeys to lessen fatigue.)
Television tuner linked to the AV monitors
GPS Navigation system
On-board computer (gives information like fuel consumption, range, when next service is due etc)
Voice control for every function on board
Electronic boot (opens and closes without the need for someone to lift the lid manually)

It is clear that there are far more systems present than are actually required in a car and this presents major difficulties in user friendliness since no system like it exists currently and thus every user must learn from scratch (BMW provides free training on purchase of a new car).

Unfortunately for BMW, the motoring press has slated its new system as dangerous and overly complicated due to the large amount of functions which are available and the fact that the controller is not as user friendly as hoped. The online Automotive Resource for performance drivers, Pistonheads.com, says of the iDrive – “The company that builds ‘The Ultimate Driving Machine’ is the one company that should know an over-complicated and dangerous distraction when it sees one. The iDrive is not, as BMW claims, ‘A New Way to Drive’. It is, in fact, a new way to die.” This may be an exaggerated opinion of the system but nonetheless it shows how wary the public are of such devices are and that it will take much more than gimmicks to convince them that such devices can be safe and reliable.

Another important aspect which will determine the success of this system and others is the amount of control the computer has over the actual driving of the car and whether it alienates the driver from the actual experience of driving.

If the 740iL BMW is taken into consideration again it seems that £70,000 (not surprisingly) buys a lot of car: at 3 metres long and weighing 2260kg you wouldn’t expect such a car to be much of a performer yet with the 450hp, 6litre V12 engine it can top 155mph and reach 60 in 5.6 seconds! In a car like this, taking your eyes off the road for even a few seconds at speed could be catastrophic and surely driving a car so big at high speed (where legal) would also be fairly difficult. BMW’s answer to a question which many did not ask was to provide every conceivable aid e.g.

Traction control
(as used on most cars today – senses wheel spin and reduces engine power to compensate)
Radar guided Cruise Control
(the car will automatically slow in order to keep a set distance between itself and any traffic in front of it)
Electronic Damper Control and Dynamic Drive
(allowing the driver to change how the suspension reacts to the road surface from the cockpit by altering damper and anti-roll bar settings)
Electronic Brake Distribution
(automatically balances the brake pressure between the wheels of the car to give the best braking force under differing circumstances)
Dynamic Stability Control
(senses if the car is skidding and corrects it in milliseconds)
Electromechanical Parking Brake
(the car does not have a conventional hand brake handle, instead the computer automatically applies it when movement stops. The computer senses if the car is on an incline and applies the brake to aid hill starts also.)

This approach is similar to systems used in fighter aircraft where computers are used to make tiny corrections to the flight controls without the pilot’s intervention thus making the aircraft more manoeuvrable, allowing the designers to produce more complex designs which would be un-flyable without the computer.

Whether these computer controls are wanted by the public or not will be seen in the sales figures for the series but the system obviously lends itself more to a luxury limousine than to a sports coupe or city car. In short – purists will detest the fact that a computer is doing the driving for them, other drivers may at the very least feel unsafe knowing that they are not in full control of the vehicle!

Perhaps the introduction of an international standard for data transfer and security protocol can provide the reassurance that current technology is safe enough for use in mobile applications such as the 760iL. The protocol which is most likely to become the international standard is known as Byteflight.

Byteflight was developed by BMW (and later used in the iDrive unit) in league with several semiconductor companies. It combines the advantages of familiar synchronous and asynchronous protocols, as used in normal PCs and guarantees high data security at a data rate of 10 Mbps and a high information update rate. Most importantly the system protects the data from interference which affects other protocols – similar to the interference caused to a TV set when a mobile phone is used nearby. Due to its low hardware cost, ease of upgradeability and the fact that no other protocol of its type currently exists, Byteflight is becoming the new unofficial standard for automobile data communication. Whether the public can be convinced that their car will not ‘crash’ like a PC system whilst driving, however, is a priority that needs further addressing. Though the Byteflight system should prevent any corruption of data due to interference it does not allow for errors in the original software. At the extreme end of the scale it could even be possible for a car to catch a computer virus in the not so distant future, which could maliciously interfere with the controls of the vehicle in question.

A Chinese, news report told recently of Suchart Jaovisidha, Thailand's finance minister, who was forced to crawl out of the shattered windows of his 7-Series following an onboard glitch which activated the automatic central locking, rendering the doors useless. Initially, the car stalled then the windows refused to wind down and the doors locked. The special bullet proof windows of the 7-series had to be broken with a sledge hammer to allow the minister to escape, his ordeal lasted 10 minutes. Reports have shown that the problem lay with electronic connections rather than with the actual iDrive unit itself. Nevertheless this one item of bad press which is currently giving in-car systems a bad name is not completely deserved and is detrimental to further investment in the area. The incident also led to a recall of 15,000 iDrive-equipped 7-series cars two months after the event happened.

It seems that a future where our cars will think for themselves is closer than many would believe. After investigating a variety of sources and experiencing the current crop of in-car information systems I believe that though the current legislation regarding the acceptable use of these systems is flawed and is in need or urgent attention at national level in the UK. However, I also believe that the systems currently in their infancy (such as the iDrive) will evolve into far more useful and user friendly systems, in time. It appears that the rumours that the human user is too removed from the actual driving experience are false (the driver will always have mechanical control of the steering, accelerator and brake of the vehicle at all times) though steps need to be taken to ensure this is always the case. The most important aspect of the technology is still, as it was back in the 1960s - the distraction factor (25 percent of the 6.3 million crashes each year involve some type of distraction or inattention). Though, this has been reduced substantially in recent years, this problem will not disappear completely since it is far too difficult to satisfy every opinion on the subject.

In conclusion, I feel that information systems have the possibility to enhance the driving experience of modern motoring but will continue to provide functions which will at first seem a luxury and then in later generations, a necessity.

-3026 words

Bibliography

‘BMW glitch locks Thai minister in’, CNETAsia, 16th of May 2003.

‘Driver Distraction’, Internet Watch: Diane Enriquez, Nov/Dec 2000.

‘What is Byteflight’

‘7-Series Sales Brochure’, BMW AG, 2003

‘Taking a look at BMW’s Clever iDrive system… but not for too long!’, Pistonheads.com, 15th of February 2002.

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(German Language)

‘Family Matters: GPS Safety’, Carol Traeger, 19th February 2001.

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In-car computing gets personal, EDN Access, 17th of November 1998.

On the Road Again, Bill Howard, PC Magazine, 5th of December 2000.

From 7-Series Sales Brochure, BMW AG, 2003

Pistonheads.com: ‘Taking a look at BMW’s Clever iDrive system… but not for too long!’, 15th of February 2002.

taken from 7-Series Sales Brochure, BMW AG, 2003

What is Byteflight:

CNETAsia: ‘BMW glitch locks Thai minister in’, Friday, May 16 2003.

Internet Watch: ‘Driver Distraction’, Diane Enriquez, Nov/Dec 2000.