- Google announces updated version of Android Automotive OS
- The tech giant hopes software can take care of important car functions
- Cars may eventually require more than 300GB of RAM, Micron says
Google has just announced an updated version of its Android Automotive open source operating system for vehicles, which it hopes will see the software take care of the “non-safety” parts of today’s and tomorrow’s Software Defined Vehicles (SDVs).
In recent years, both passenger cars and commercial vehicles have become increasingly complex. With the advent of electric vehicles and their simplified powertrain architecture, automakers have turned to computing power to both control the vehicle and offer advanced infotainment systems.
Often described as Software Defined Vehicles, the phrase loosely applies to anything that can be updated, improved, diagnosed and repaired remotely by using an in-car data connection to connect to The Cloud.
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In a blog post written by Google’s group product manager Matt Crowley explains that modern cars are fast becoming “computers on wheels”.
“From preheating your car in the morning to using your smartphone as a car key, many of today’s vehicle functions are controlled by software,” he writes.
But modern automakers also face a number of obstacles, primarily because most of them have limited coding and software experience, so they’ve had to create entire divisions dedicated to rapidly emerging technologies.
Second, Crowley says most automakers integrate software modules from dozens of different vendors.
“This fragmented approach means car manufacturers have to spend time building infrastructure rather than what really sets them apart in a fast-moving market,” he says.
As you’ve probably already predicted, Google and Android want to make this simpler by releasing the Android Automotive OS for Software Defined Vehicles (AAOS SDV), which it claims provides an open infrastructure for the “non-safety” parts of a vehicle.
This will include things like next-generation AI voice assistants, climate control and cabin ambience, steering adjustments and infotainment services.
Like Apple with its Apple CarPlay Ultra system, Google and Android want more drivers to leverage Android Automotive for the digital experience in the car, while convincing automakers that it will streamline its development processes by letting the software giant take care of the hard parts.
But like Apple CarPlay Ultra, Google may also find that there is a backlash from both customers and automakers who aren’t keen on Google handling the inevitable volumes of driver data flowing through their systems.
Analysis: The disadvantages of “computers on wheels”
Like it or not, the software-defined vehicle revolution is in full swing, and as automakers look to software to open up new revenue streams, future vehicles will only become more and more complex.
In a recent report by The Register, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said that cars will eventually require more than 300GB of RAM to function as automakers continue to push toward higher levels of autonomous driving functionality.
Currently, a modern Tesla has between 8 and 16 GB of RAM, depending on its age, which is about the same or twice as much as today’s Apple iPhone.
To achieve a level of autonomy that allows drivers to safely and legally take their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road, Mehrotra believes automakers will need to introduce nearly 20 times that amount, bringing a vehicle more in line with a high-end consumer desktop.
Not only could this massively increase the cost of tomorrow’s vehicles, it could also result in memory chip shortages as the industry struggles to cope with demand from competing automakers all racing to bring the latest self-driving technology to market.
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