Swedish vehicle electronics makes cars safer, greener and more connected
Sweden is taking a world-leading position in vehicle ICT research thanks to new focus on vehicle electronics.
Sweden’s world-class automotive cluster is represented by leading brands such as SAAB Automobile, Scania, Volvo Car Corporation and Volvo Group alongside some 1,000 suppliers. Thanks to large investments from government and the automotive industry, Sweden is at the forefront of research and development into advanced ICT for vehicles. Key projects will be showed off at the Convergence 2008 conference in Detroit.
Delegates from the Swedish automotive industry will be present at Booth 139 at the Convergence 2008 conference in Detroit, Michigan on October 20-22 to meet international representatives from the vehicle electronics industry. The aim is to strengthen the Swedish vehicle electronics industry with further investment.
Future trend
The increasing involvement of vehicle electronics and embedded software is the single biggest technological trend within the global automotive industry, and will be a key criteria for the future, according to Hans Hentzell, president of the Swedish ICT Research Institute.
The emergence of vehicle electronics systems enables use of cost-effective platforms and systems that can easily be adapted for different scenarios. The need for cheap and reliable sensors is large, as is the need to develop robust hardware and software solutions.
”A big challenge for the automotive industry is to be able to offer smart and safe interaction with mobile consumer products with much shorter lifecycles than the vehicle itself,” says Hans Hentzell.
In order to build upon the competence available within advanced vehicle technologies in Sweden, the Swedish government and automotive industry has invested SEK 5 billion ($712 million) into vehicle technologies during the past five years, and will continue to invest the same amount over the next 5-year period. Also involved in the project are the Swedish Energy Agency and the Swedish Road Administration.
“The global automotive and transport industry is driven largely by an increasing demand for environmentally friendly designs, reduced operating costs, increased safety, reliability and comfort, all in combination with a strong focus on costs,” says Hans Hentzell. “An increased use of ICT and electronics in vehicles is a key competence in order to cope with environmental demands, and give private and commercial users added-value products.”
”A major difficulty lies in designing interfaces in complex vehicle systems. Sweden offers a unique situation with internationally competitive automotive and telecom industries, both with significant development located in Sweden. This gives Sweden an edge in the ability to achieve synergies in competitive solutions,” adds Hans Hentzell.
Sweden has leading expertise and entrepreneurs within vehicle electronics. For example, many universities and specialist institutes focus on the field of dependable electronics systems design. Chalmers University of Technology carries out world-reputed research into ICT systems for vehicles, and is also one of only a handful university partners to General Motors in Europe.
The Swedish automotive cluster for research and development offers excellent opportunities and welcomes companies who wants to invest and collaborate with technology leaders for the future.
The Swedish Government and automotive industry have boosted and are continuing to boost these initiatives with some SEK 15+ billion ($2.12+ billion) in funding since the mid-1990s with the aim to develop The Green Car, The Safe Car, The Intelligent Car and The Connected Car.
Unique environment
Göteborg-based QRtech has developed vehicle electronics systems for Volvo Car Corporation, Volvo Trucks and SAAB. Magnus Lindahl, managing director of QRtech, believes that Sweden offers a unique environment for research and development within the automotive sector.
“Sweden offers high levels of competence within the field of vehicle electronics and embedded software, and there’s also a unique collaboration between academia and industry present,” says Magnus Lindahl.
“The Swedish mentality is another benefit – we are good at collaborating and seeing problems from different angles in order to solve them. We are also not too worried about loss of prestige when involved in projects, which in turn helps cooperation,” adds Magnus Lindahl.
A good example of this is the long cooperation between bus and truck competitors Volvo Group and SAAB Scania, which have long since worked together on a pre-competitive level to develop the IVSS (Intelligent Vehicle Safety Systems) technology.
Great opportunity
“The need for complex electronics systems from leading Swedish vehicle manufacturers is present today and will only increase in the future,” says Kjell Nilsson, senior advisor, automotive at Invest in Sweden Agency North America.
“Thus, there are great opportunities for suppliers of ICT systems for vehicles to establish themselves in the Swedish vehicle clusters for collaboration and local research and development activities near the offices of Swedish OEMs,” Nilsson adds.
Key representatives will be present at Convergence 2008 to show off innovative Swedish projects within embedded software for ICT systems for vehicles, such as the Volvo Autosar pilot and SWAP (SoftWare Automotive Platform). Included in the Swedish delegation are Volvo, Chalmers University of Technology, QRtech, Mecel, Imego, Transic, among others.
For further information:
Kjell Nilsson
Senior advisor, automotive; Invest in Sweden Agency North America
Mobile: +1 (0)734 904 0677
Email: kjell.nilsson@usa.isa.se
Robert Karlsson
Head of automotive; Invest in Sweden Agency
Mobile: +46 (0)70 581 45 81
Email: robert.p.karlsson@isa.se
Examples of Swedish vehicle electronics projects and investments:
Autosar
Swedish automotive giant Volvo Group was the first commercial vehicle manufacturer to introduce Autosar (Automotive Open System Architecture). The Autosar software standard makes it possible for new software suppliers to become part of the supplier base for the likes of Volvo Group.
“Autosar gives the automotive industry the possibility to combine software applications from one supplier with hardware from another supplier. This can be compared to how different programs can be installed on a PC,” says Anders Ydergard, senior vice president, vehicle research and development, at Volvo Group.
Volvo Group joined the Autosar partnership in 2004, and started implementing the software platform into its vehicles in November 2007. A year on, all embedded software development for vehicles developed by the Volvo Group conforms to the Autosar standard.
“Sweden offers a holistic approach to electrical architecture development,” says Bengt Banck, vice president, electrical and electronics systems engineering, at Volvo Car Corporation.
“The introduction of Autosar has meant that we have the opportunity to quickly integrate new innovative functionality from all developers working according to Autosar principles. The benefits for our customers are evident; more functionality in high quality products, and at the right cost,” says Bengt Banck.
Mecel
Mecel is active in advanced concept and product engineering for the automotive industry. The company, the Swedish subsidiary of automotive supplier Delphi, specialises in the development of electronic systems and software for automobiles, trucks, buses, and their infrastructure.
Mecel has recently been given global responsibility for Delphi’s entire Autosar platform.
“It is exciting that Göteborg will be the centre for a global enterprise, within a subject area with great growth potential,” says Kent Eric Lång, managing director of Mecel.
“We have gained this responsibility thanks to our competence within software for vehicles, but also because of the well-established eco system in the region,” Lång adds.
Mecel’s Autosar platform, dubbed Mecel Picea, will be officially launched at the Convergence 2008 conference. It will be used internally at Delphi, but will also be sold to external customers.
“The effort involved in developing software to an electronics unit will eventually be halved with the use of Autosar. A new market for software products will grow in its place,” says Kent Eric Lång.
TSS Test Site Sweden
TSS Test Site Sweden is a national project and a neutral meeting place for joint research projects in safety, the environment and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Its purpose is to promote the growth of knowledge and the development of new technology in the field. Test Site Sweden also promotes a strong international reputation and a showcase of Sweden's expertise in the automotive industry, road safety and the traffic environment.
TSS Test Site Sweden – based in the Lindholmen Science Park in Göteborg – offers testing and demonstration environments, and is the result of committed support and investment from Sweden’s business regions, government and universities. The aim is to assist in the promotion of communication and collaboration between telematics companies, academia, and organisations.
“Sweden has attracted large automotive companies and startups from around the world that are developing the latest innovations in the growing field of vehicle electronics,” says Peter Öhman, project manager of TSS Test Site Sweden.
“TSS Test Site Sweden has helped to facilitate even further growth in the region by creating a fertile business and technology environment for companies to thrive,” Öhman adds.
The primary players in the Lindholmen Science Park include Volvo Car Corporation, Volvo Group, Ericsson, SAAB, the Swedish National Road Administration and Chalmers University of Technology, which was selected to design and execute the Global Active and Passive Safety course for General Motors engineers.
Systemite
Göteborg-based Systemite offers high-performance life cycle management platforms for development of embedded systems for vehicles.
The company’s SystemWeaver platform contributes to higher product quality and possibilities in order to rationalise the process of designing ICT systems for the automotive industry, as well as improving information and project management.
“Keeping track of all the different components involved in complicated vehicle projects can be a nightmare. Our SystemWeaver platform is aimed to create order and reduce the amount of unnecessary work. It can increase the efficiency in information management involved in a project by 40 to 50 percent,” says Joachim Fritzon, business development manager at Systemite.
Open innovation cluster on vehicle and transport ICT
Chalmers University of Technology, Swedish ICT Research Institute and TSS Test Site Sweden have joined forces with the vehicle and transport industry and the Swedish government in a major coordination of Swedish research resources in the areas of vehicle and transport ICT.
The aim is to optimize Swedish research financing through close collaboration and common focus on strategic, world leading competence in the area of smart, safe and sustainable transport of goods and people. The global vehicle and transport industry are invited to share and contribute by establishing research and development activities in the cluster.