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This week we discuss BlueCruise technology, Ford’s new hands-free active driver assist feature available on the Mustang Mach-E. We share our experiences with the system and talk about how it differs from GM’s Super Cruise and Tesla’s Autopilot.

https://www.consumerreports.org/video/view/cars/talking-cars/6291843511001/talking-cars-episode-342/

> Snapdragon Ride™ Platform – an open and programmable platform that addresses the full-spectrum of driver assistance and automated driving (AD) needs from New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) to L2+/L3; offering a scalable portfolio of system-on-chip (SoC) processors and accelerators for vision, central compute and high-performance AD needs; a turnkey Arriver™ based vision stack, a full set of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS)/AD features and a flexible architecture that allows automakers and Tier-1 suppliers to bring their own Drive Policy, parking or driver monitoring stack, advanced navigation that can be integrated with Arriver Drive Policy elements. The platform also includes a full support for features, functional safety/SOTIF and system architecture competencies.

> Snapdragon® ****pit Platform – provides automakers an opportunity to transform the in-car experience to create new services through highly customizable always-connected SoC and virtualized software solutions that create a multi-display, multi-camera, premium audio, video and multimedia experience with mixed criticality environments that support consumer and safety ecosystems concurrently and safely

> Snapdragon® Auto Connectivity Platform – allows automakers to meet the increasing demands of safer and more immersive driving experiences powered by LTE, 5G connected services, cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and precise positioning, all of which are designed to securely connect vehicles to the cloud, each other and the surrounding environment.

“As a leading Chinese automobile manufacturer, XPeng understands the importance of computing and connectivity abilities to today's vehicles. Qualcomm Technologies’ multi-generation Snapdragon ****pit Platforms helps XPeng’s products meet user expectations for premium in-car experience,” said Tao He, co-founder and senior vice president, XPeng. “In the future, we will continue to drive the adoption of next generation Snapdragon ****pit Platforms on subsequent products of XPeng, bringing consumers a more intelligent, efficient, safe and comfortable driving experience.”

https://iot-automotive.news/qualcomm-builds-momentum-around-snapdragon-digital-chassis-to-define-the-future-of-automotive/

We just evaluated the new Ford BlueCruise active driving assistance system on a 2021 Mustang Mach-E electric vehicle and came away with mostly positive feelings.

The system can allow for hands-free driving on sections of pre-mapped divided highways, automating the vehicle’s steering, acceleration, and braking for the driver. It stands out for its driver monitoring and appropriate warnings when driver attention appears to have wandered, plus it effectively encourages collaborative driving.

BlueCruise is similar to General Motors’ Super Cruise—currently the top-rated active driving assistance system in Consumer Reports’ tests—in that it uses a direct driver monitoring system, via an infrared camera mounted on top of the steering column, to make sure the driver is looking at the road.

CR feels it is imperative that active driving assistance systems—which combine lane centering assistance (LCA) and adaptive cruise control (ACC)—use direct driver monitoring to make sure the driver is looking at the road to help keep themselves and other vehicles around it safe. Most current active driving assistance systems, including Tesla’s Autopilot, do not use effective direct driver monitoring, and instead require occasional hand pressure on the steering wheel as a means to make sure the driver is paying attention.

MORE ON ACTIVE DRIVING ASSISTANCE SYSTEMS
Cadillac's Super Cruise Outperforms Other Driving Assistance Systems
Tesla’s Camera-Based Driver Monitoring Fails to Keep Driver Attention on the Road, CR Tests Show
How Much Automation Does Your Car Really Have?
AAA Survey Shows Less Interest in Self-Driving Cars Than in Fine-Tuning Today's Safety Systems
BlueCruise has a big advantage over Super Cruise and Autopilot: It allows for driver collaboration. If the driver wants to steer around a pothole, pedestrian, or cyclist for example, the system doesn’t immediately shut off or go into a standby mode, as with Autopilot and Super Cruise. After the maneuver is completed, the system will re-center the car in the lane automatically. This allows the driver to work with the system, rather than seemingly passing the control back and forth between automation and the driver.

https://www.consumerreports.org/driver-assistance-systems/ford-bluecruise-active-driving-assistance-system-review-a5728630415/

Ambarella: Computer vision is already in the works
Computer vision is an entirely different type of technology that is helping enable autonomous vehicles. It uses digital cameras to capture video, which is processed by high-end system-on-a-chip hardware and artificial intelligence software to allow vehicles to safely navigate the roads. Ambarella specializes in the design of these image processing chips.

Computer vision is already in use in some ADAS platforms -- including Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) self-driving system -- as well as in other devices like security cameras. But Ambarella is still early in the process of developing hardware for the more advanced systems that will unlock progressively more autonomous cars -- and eventually, ones that require no human input. Still, its financial results are already benefiting. Through the first nine months of 2021, revenue was up 50% year over year to $242 million.
As more automakers put Ambarella's technology to use in the coming years, its currently small sales base could expand dramatically. (Top semiconductor companies book billions of dollars in annual revenues.) That upbeat thesis is currently priced into the stock. Even after a more than 30% pullback in recent months, Ambarella trades for more than 19 times its trailing-12-month sales and nearly 120 times its adjusted net income. (Most of the company's excess cash is being spent on research and development right now.)

Given the high price tag, I'd tread very lightly with this semiconductor stock at the moment. Nevertheless, Ambarella could be a top player in automotive technology in the decade ahead. It's prone to wild swings in price, so keep this stock on your list of buy-the-dip candidates.

Qualcomm: The next frontier for mobility
Nearly every smartphone on the planet has a piece of Qualcomm-designed electronics in it. Through the 2000s and 2010s, Qualcomm's chips contributed to the boom in computing mobility from smartphones and telecom services. In recent years, the industry has matured, and this semiconductor stock has become more of a value play.

But Qualcomm has been steadily gearing up for the next wave of mobile computing, and it has the modern car squarely in its sights. In fact, during its fiscal 2021, which ended Sept. 26, Qualcomm reported $975 million in sales to the auto industry. For perspective, that was only about 3% of the company's total revenue. However, it was a 51% year-over-year increase, and with new cars getting enabled with everything from ADAS features to mobile network connectivity, Qualcomm thinks that great things could be in store for it in this segment.

To that end, Qualcomm recently reached an agreement to acquire the automotive software segment of auto technology supplier Veoneer (NYSE: VNE), presumably in a bid to make its mobile hardware easier to implement. And at CES 2022 this month, Qualcomm discussed its current capabilities and future plans for the "software-defined vehicle"
https://www

OMNIVISION recently announced at CES the latest addition to its groundbreaking Nyxel® near-infrared (NIR) technology family?the new OX05B1S is the automotive industry’s first 5 megapixel (MP) RGB-IR BSI global shutter sensor for in-cabin monitoring systems (IMS). With a pixel size of just 2.2 µm, it offers 940 nm NIR sensitivity for the best performance in extremely low light conditions; it has a wide field of view and enough pixels to view both the driver and occupants. Additionally, it is the first RGB-IR sensor for in-cabin monitoring to feature integrated cybersecurity.

According to Colin Barnden, principal analyst at Semicast Research, “The DMS sector represents a huge growth opportunity for in-cabin cameras, with almost all automotive OEM nominations still to be decided. Based on OMNIVISION’s revolutionary Nyxel® NIR technology, the new OX05B1S brings dramatically improved resolution as well as overall enhanced efficiency and design flexibility to automotive OEMs seeking high performance operation across the full spectrum of lighting conditions.”

“The automotive industry can now transition from 1 and 2MP to 5MP with our new RGB-IR BSI global shutter sensor, and they only need one camera instead of two for simultaneous driver and occupant monitoring systems, reducing complexity, cost and space,” said Andy Hanvey, director of automotive marketing at OMNIVISION. “We anticipate high demand for the OX05B1S and have already been awarded OEM projects. Most importantly, we developed it with strong ecosystem partner support, working with companies such as Seeing Machines, to enable a complete, seamless solution for automotive OEMs.”

Based on OMNIVISION’s revolutionary Nyxel® NIR technology, the new OX05B1Sbrings dramatically improved resolution as well as overall enhanced efficiency and design flexibility to automotive OEMs. Nyxel® technology uses novel silicon Semiconductor architectures and processes to achieve the world’s best quantum efficiency (QE) at the 940 nm NIR wavelength. The OX05B1S has the industry’s highest NIR QE at 36% (a 3x boost from 12% in the previous generation). This enables the OX05B1S to detect and recognize objects that other image sensors would miss under extremely low lighting conditions, enabling higher-performance in-cabin camera capabilities for improved occupant and driver monitoring, security, selfies, videoconferencing and more.

The sensor comes in an OMNIVISION stacked a-CSP™ package that is 50% smaller than competitive products and allows for higher-performance image sensors in tighter camera spaces. It is also available in a reconstructed wafer option for designers who want the flexibility to customize their own package.

The OX05B1S has an “always on” optional feature. Samples of the new OX05B1S are available now and the sensors will be available in mass production in Q1 2023. More information please visit https://www.ovt.com/products/ox05b1s-e89y-1a-z/
https://www.shunlongwei.com/omnivision-releas

Further analysis of #DMS #OMS announcements at #CES2022 reveals this video from Gentex Corporation for driver & occupant monitoring. The video clearly shows that Gentex is using proprietary #incabin #software resulting from the 2021 acquisition of Guardian Optical. https://lnkd.in/efrrQQZY

The major #automotive trend is towards monitoring the whole cabin and all occupants. Typically this will be performed by locating an image sensor and image processor into the rearview mirror. In December, Seeing Machines announced a DMS/OMS contract "with a leading German automaker," that is widely thought to be Volkswagen AG. The Gentex video thus flags a critical strategic issue:

Magna International and Gentex are two leading suppliers of electronic rearview mirrors. However, if Magna is partnered with (and has invested in) Seeing Machines, and Gentex is using proprietary Guardian software for its solution, what is the route to market for Smart Eye?

Following the Affectiva acquisition, Smart Eye's survival is bet on what it calls "Human Insight #AI and interior sensing," but these technologies work by integrating an image sensor and power-efficient image processor inside the mirror, as evidenced by Gentex and Magna. Thus:

1. Which tier one supplier(s) is Smart Eye partnered with for its interior sensing offerings? What are their competitive advantages over Magna and Gentex?

2. How does a "hardware-agnostic" strategy fit with the requirements for high #performance yet low #power processing in the mirror?

It was widely assumed that Smart Eye made the final round of tenders for the Volkswagen contract, only to lose to Seeing Machines, but that conclusion may be incorrect.

With a known partnership with Magna for the rearview mirror, and a known partnership with OMNIVISION for the #Occula NPU-based #OAX4600 #ASIC if Seeing Machines has advanced development of its own interior sensing software, then it already has a commanding lead over Smart Eye. This announcement with Qualcomm suggests it is part-way there: https://lnkd.in/edZMZT7g

From the outside, the data is ultimately inconclusive but the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place in 2022. Automakers, tier one suppliers and investors will seek answers to these many serious engineering questions. To paraphrase an old adage: “#PR can be bought, but #engineering must be earned.”

To discuss these issues in more detail, I can be booked for telephone-based consultancy via GLG and Guidepoint. Just ask for me by name. The Semicast report "ADAS & Automotive Vision-based Driver Monitoring Systems -2022 Edition" is now published, with full details at: https://lnkd.in/df4VheW

https://lnkd.in/ew3M89MC

Occupant monitoring systems (OMS) have long been used in commercial vehicles to detect uninvited passengers or debris in the cab, but interest in the passenger car market, particularly around child detection, is expanding. From 2022, Euro NCAP intends to reward brands that provide this technology in its safety ratings. Members of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association of Global Automakers in the United States voluntarily agreed to make child detection a standard feature by 2025.

With the introduction of robotaxis, these systems may become indispensable. OMS is essential for fully autonomous ride-sharing vehicles, because of its capacity to detect inappropriate user behavior, personal belongings left in the vehicle, and situations that demand action, such as health emergencies or spillages. This shift toward self-driving vehicles, in which drivers are no longer passengers, predicts that DMS and OMS will converge.

However, these are two quite different technologies. DMS is really high-performance, enabling the vehicle to pick up exactly when a driver takes his concentration off the business of driving. It’s really sensitive to what’s going on with the driver. The occupant monitoring technology is more open and looser, but automakers are taking interest in ways to integrate the two.

With its existing customer base, Seeing Machines is aggressively researching into this field, which could lead to new partnerships. Seeing Machines are looking at relevant aspects to build on from their own expertise in face and eye gaze tracking, but are also collaborating with partners that have other skills that, when combined, offer a really significant value case for automakers.

However, both Seeing Machines and the segment as a whole are still in their infancy. Despite being aware of the need to deliver a single driver and occupant monitoring solution, most suppliers lack real-world deployment, having hazy roadmaps based entirely on theoretical applications.

https://woodlandreport.com/2022/01/driver-monitoring-systems-an-integral-part-of-vehicle-safety/

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