Automotive

NIRA Dynamics signs agreement with Global Weather for road data

Thu, May 27, 2021

Swedish auto technology leader NIRA Dynamics, a company within the Volkswagen Group, has signed an agreement with Global Weather Corporation (GWC), for its road condition services for the automotive industry.

The partnership will allow improved road condition services for autonomous vehicle functions, says NIRA.

GWC’s RoadWX data services predict atmospheric weather and road surface conditions over two phases.

The first is rain or snow falling, making the road wet or snowy, the second phase is when the rain or snow has stopped and the road begins to dry. Ignoring the second phase, warns, GWC, can mean forecasts can be wrong over many hours.

GWC employs an atmospheric forecast and a physics-based model of the road to compute how the road conditions respond initially to rain or snow, and how/when the road freezes or dries after rain or snowfall ends to forecast road weather events.

RoadWX data service combines atmospheric forecast with GWC’s RoadWeather road physics model for road weather forecasting. There are two critical modelling steps, beginning with atmospheric forecast technology and the RoadWeather road physics model, which uses radiation transfer algorithms to compute road surface temperature using current weather and road state history as inputs.

It is configured to account for road type, traffic volume, and winter treatment level.

NIRA Dynamics says it is spearheading the next generation of connected car technology, preparing drivers for adverse weather or road conditions, reducing crashes, and improving safety with data from connected vehicles and weather and road predictive analytics in a map with a friction map layer which will help municipalities better manage roads during extreme weather. It will also allow driver
assistance systems access to road conditions for enhanced safety, improve tyre performance, and ensure navigation systems can take road conditions into account.

The number of connected vehicles with NIRA algorithms is growing rapidly and will reach 1.7 million during 2021, reports NIRA Dynamics. By adding the weather data from GWC, the NIRA/GWC combination will provide industry-leading road surface monitoring, including prediction of future road state, says the company.

http://www.niradynamics.se

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NIRA Dynamics signs agreement with Global Weather for road data

Thu, May 27, 2021

Swedish auto technology leader NIRA Dynamics, a company within the Volkswagen Group, has signed an agreement with Global Weather Corporation (GWC), for its road condition services for the automotive industry.

The partnership will allow improved road condition services for autonomous vehicle functions, says NIRA.

GWC’s RoadWX data services predict atmospheric weather and road surface conditions over two phases.

The first is rain or snow falling, making the road wet or snowy, the second phase is when the rain or snow has stopped and the road begins to dry. Ignoring the second phase, warns, GWC, can mean forecasts can be wrong over many hours.

GWC employs an atmospheric forecast and a physics-based model of the road to compute how the road conditions respond initially to rain or snow, and how/when the road freezes or dries after rain or snowfall ends to forecast road weather events.

RoadWX data service combines atmospheric forecast with GWC’s RoadWeather road physics model for road weather forecasting. There are two critical modelling steps, beginning with atmospheric forecast technology and the RoadWeather road physics model, which uses radiation transfer algorithms to compute road surface temperature using current weather and road state history as inputs.

It is configured to account for road type, traffic volume, and winter treatment level.

NIRA Dynamics says it is spearheading the next generation of connected car technology, preparing drivers for adverse weather or road conditions, reducing crashes, and improving safety with data from connected vehicles and weather and road predictive analytics in a map with a friction map layer which will help municipalities better manage roads during extreme weather. It will also allow driver
assistance systems access to road conditions for enhanced safety, improve tyre performance, and ensure navigation systems can take road conditions into account.

The number of connected vehicles with NIRA algorithms is growing rapidly and will reach 1.7 million during 2021, reports NIRA Dynamics. By adding the weather data from GWC, the NIRA/GWC combination will provide industry-leading road surface monitoring, including prediction of future road state, says the company.

http://www.niradynamics.se

> Read More

Infineon adds sound to ADAS systems

Wed, May 19, 2021

Adding the sense of hearing to advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), Infineon Technologies has partnered with Reality AI to integrate its Xensiv MEMS microphones to vehicles’ sensor systems. It enables cars to “see” around the corner and to warn about moving objects hidden in the blind spot or approaching emergency vehicles that are still too distant to see. Typically ADAS is based on cameras, radar or lidar so target objects have to be within the line of sight to be recognised by the system, which has proved a weakness for emergency vehicles as these can be heard much earlier than they can be seen and are therefore “invisible” to ADAS for a period of time.

Infineon’s Xensiv MEMS microphones are combined with Aurix microcontrollers and Reality AI’s automotive see-with-sound (SWS) system. Using machine learning-based algorithms, the system is able to detect emergency vehicles, cars and other road vehicles, even if they cannot be seen by drivers or detected by the sensors incorporated in the vehicles’ ADAS. Machine learning also ensures that the country-specific sirens of emergency vehicles are recognised around the world.

The automotive-qualified Xensiv MEMS microphone IM67D130A has an increased operating temperature range from -40 to +105 degrees C for use in harsh automotive environments. The low distortions (THD) and the high acoustic overload point (AOP) of 130dB SPL enable the microphone to capture distortion-free audio signals in loud environments for a reliable classification, even if the siren sound is hidden in high background or wind noise, says Infineon. This sound-base sensing technology can also enable other applications in vehicles such as road condition monitoring, damage detection or even predictive maintenance.

For processing the audio signal, the Reality AI software uses  Infineon’s Aurix TC3x family of microcontrollers. The scalable microcontroller family offers a range from one to six cores and up to 16Mbyte of flash with functional safety up to ASIL-D according to the ISO26262 2018 standard and EVITA full cybersecurity.

The Xensiv MEMS microphone IM67D130A can be ordered now in a PG-LLGA-5-4 package.

http://www.infineon.com

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Magnetic position sensor meets ASIL-D for ADAS applications

Wed, May 19, 2021

The latest addition to the 3DMAG family of rotary and linear magnetic position sensor ICs for automotive and industrial applications has been announced by Allegro Microsystems. The A31315 sensor delivers the accuracy and performance needed to meet stringent ASIL-D requirements of safety-critical automotive applications, says the company.

Allegro’s 3DMAG sensors combine its planar and vertical Hall-effect technologies to measure magnetic field components along three axes (X, Y, Z). This enables true 3D sensing capabilities with a wide magnetic dynamic range without saturation, says Allegro.

The A31315 sensor is claimed to address the functional safety challenges posed by advances in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving systems, by delivering the measurement accuracy necessary to meet the stringent requirements of safety-critical steering, braking, transmission and throttle systems.

The sensors’ flexible 3D Hall-effect front end and configurable signal processing architecture enable highly accurate, absolute linear position and rotary position measurements up to 360 degree. Existing Allegro 3DMAG devices, such as the ALS31300 and ALS31313 sensors, also support 3D magnetometer applications in which all three magnetic components (BX, BY, BZ) are required to track complex magnetic movements.

The A31315 is a highly accurate A31315 position sensor, says Allegro. It contains advanced on-chip diagnostic features to ensure reliable, safe operation and supports both rotary and linear position sensing with native angle error over temperature in any plane (less than 1.2 degrees over the operating temperature range). Following Safety Element out of Context (SEooC) functional safety guidelines, the A31315 supports ASIL-B (single die) and ASIL-D (dual die) system level integration in accordance with ISO 26262. It is also automotive-qualified to AEC-Q100 Grade 0.

The A31315 sensor is available as a single die in a compact SOIC-8 package, and as a fully redundant stacked dual die in a TSSOP-14 package for applications requiring redundancy or higher levels of measurement. Allegro says its stacked die construction closely aligns the sensing elements of both die, ensuring the measurement of nearly identical magnetic fields. This design enables the dual-die A31315 sensor to offer superior channel matching performance and tighter channel comparison thresholds common in fully redundant safety systems.

The 3DMAG sensors have a wide range of programmable channel trim and linearisation options which can be adjusted to the magnetic circuitry to optimise the sensors for accuracy and manufacturing efficiency in end-of-line programming times for specific applications. The sensors also offer low power consumption and flexible power management options, enabling battery life optimisation in portable applications, says Allegro.

The 3DMAG sensors support flexible low-voltage programming through sensor outputs regardless of the interface (e.g. analogue, SAE J2716 SENT, PWM, I2C), allowing direct programming by a microcontroller in embedded designs and simplifying the interface for end-of-line system calibration. This low-voltage programming option also opens up new system architectures with remote field-replaceable sensor module designs that can be programmed by the electronic control unit (ECU).

 http://www.allegromicro.com

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