Sonatus, a developer of software defined vehicle technology, has released the next generation of its Sonatus Digital Dynamics Vehicle Platform, which “lives both in-vehicle and in the cloud”, says the company.
Following a successful debut in the Genesis GV60, Sonatus has further enhanced the cloud-side of its platform to bolster automakers’ ability to build software-defined vehicles that can be updated with new features and functionality throughout their entire lifetimes – without requiring new software development.
Given the time and resources required to develop new software, removing this barrier significantly accelerates innovation and bolsters agility, claims Sonatus.
Jeffrey Chou, CEO and co-founder of Sonatus, says: “The automotive industry is undergoing a digital transformation and OEMs are recognizing that software-defined vehicles will allow them to innovate faster, reduce costs, and become more agile, which is critical for getting ahead in a highly competitive market.
“To do this effectively and at scale, OEMs need the ability to quickly harness in-vehicle data, control and secure vehicle connectivity, and remedy problems in real-time through code-less updates. That’s exactly what our platform enables, and we’re proud to play a role in accelerating the digital transformation of the industry.”
Since its initial launch with the Genesis GV60, the cloud-side of Sonatus’ platform has been enhanced with a brand new user interface to further simplify the creation and deployment of policies for dynamic data collection.
The company also introduced new software functionality that enables myriad collection configurations to occur simultaneously, while allowing OEMs to grant access securely to users across the organization.
These updates make it easier than ever for multiple teams to easily and instantly collect the data they need to do their jobs at any given time.
A few examples of how OEMs can use the Sonatus Digital Dynamics Vehicle Platform include:
- Streamline Vehicle Drive Testing: Remotely monitor and analyze real-time data from vehicles undergoing drive testing (for example, in extreme weather conditions) rather than spend time and money traveling to debug issues on-site. If engineers need additional data, they can immediately update data collection policies and ask the driver to repeat the test, or modify vehicle settings or driving behavior.
- Diagnosing In-field Issues: Trigger new data collection policies to understand what’s happening in the vehicle. For example, some vehicles reportedly are not braking well in the rain. Chassis Engineer deploys a policy to collect vehicle speed, distance traveled, braking, traction control, ABS, and other relevant data – when wipers on and speed >30mph & brakes applied.
- Cybersecurity: In-vehicle Intrusion Detection System (IDS) identifies suspicious behavior and sends alerts to the cloud-based Vehicle Security Operations Center (VSOC) platform. Once security analysts understand the threat, operators can quickly update security policies and rapidly deploy them to vehicle fleets to protect against cyberattacks.
Troy Trenchard, chief marketing officer at Sonatus, says: “OEMs recognize the value of being able to update their vehicles over-the-air post-production to fix issues, enhance performance, add capabilities, and tap into new revenue streams.
“And, consumers also benefit from safer, more dependable, and easier to maintain vehicles that can be updated with new features and functionality over time. Given the increasing pace of innovation in the industry, automakers who aren’t prioritizing developing software-defined vehicles today will be left playing catch up for years to come.”
Sonatus says its “unique approach” to helping automakers build software-defined vehicles is underpinned by its team’s diverse experience across both IT and automotive. Sonatus’ platform lives both in-vehicle and in the cloud, and is flexible, modular, and hardware agnostic.
This allows OEMs to reconfigure software to change the functionality of the vehicle exactly when, where, and how they need to. The company’s solutions are currently in-market with Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis, and “will be in millions of cars by 2023”, says the company.
With this next generation of Sonatus’ software-defined vehicle platform, OEMs can update and fix issues in fleets of vehicles quickly, easily, reliably, and without the costs and lead times associated with developing and deploying new software updates.
