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Archive for the ‘Trends in Automotive’ Category

Frost & Sullivan has recently made public their new report on the current status of ASIC, ASSP, and FPGA markets. The report not only states how the industry is faring but also forecasts what will be the trends in the markets and what will be the challenges that it will have to confront.

In the study, the experts analyzed also other factors that affect the industry directly like their end-users. They include also in their studies body and chassis, central command, telematics, power train, engine control, safety and security, and driver relevant information. The main thing that the study shows is that more and more electronics are being used on automobiles which increased the demand for ASIC, ASSP, and FPGAs.

Today’s vehicles are becoming more and more reliant on electronic components. Different systems of a vehicle that are being developed and produced today are equipped with electronic systems which aid the mechanical parts in performing effectively. Fuel injection systems for cars rely on electronic components to provide the engine with the right amount of fuel. Likewise, safety systems also rely heavily on electronic circuits to provide optimum safety to the occupants of a car in the event of a crash. Braking systems also depend on electronic components like the anti-lock braking system (ABS).

The automobile specific integrated circuit (ASIC), application specific standard products (ASSPs), and the field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) markets have been achieving much success, thanks to the needs for the said products in the automotive industry. The increase in the number of consumers means that the demand for the said electronic parts will also rise. Other factors that made the need for electronic parts are government pollution mandates, safety and security regulations, and the oil crisis. The use of electronic components also reduces manufacturing costs since human errors are very much avoided.

In the automotive industry, the introduction of luxury features also increased the need for specialized electronic components. The popularity of hybrid vehicles like the popular Toyota Prius also made the demand increase. Electronic components are needed on hybrid vehicles to facilitate the smooth change of power from engine to electric motor muscle. Other mandatory safety systems also need electronic components. Electronic stability systems rely on electronics to keep the car stable especially while cornering. Suspension systems also depends on electronics as shown by electronically controlled independent suspension systems employed by the latest mass produced vehicles.

Due to the increase in the demand of such, the industry is expected to generate considerable revenues especially in the European region’s market where the industry is doing a very good business. While Europe may be the leading region in terms of production of ASICs, ASSPs, and FPGAs, Asian countries are joining the bandwagon. The region has become the fastest growing segments due to the increasing automobile sales in the said area. Without the aid of electronic components, even high quality parts like brake components from EBC Active Brakes Direct will not perform to the best of their capabilities.

While the industry may be enjoying much success, they still have to come up with more world class electronic design automation software tools to provide better service to their end users. Fierce competition is also expected since there are companies that are already established which will make it hard for smaller enterprises to break into the market and stake their claims in a share in the growing market. The analysts said that there is a possibility that the large and established companies will acquire smaller companies to increase their productivity. Analysts further said that the market for electronic components will grow dramatically as the technology used in cars will likely advance in the future.

Bluetooth in Cars:

The new generations of cars will have an increasing number of micro controllers connected via two or more networks. An advantage of this is that the car can be individually customized by software, another that the car to great extent can have self diagnostic functions. To fully use such features, it is necessary to have a bidirectional communication between the car system and production tools as well as service tools for down loading new software and parameters and uploading of status and diagnostic messages. These production and service tool will, to a great extent be based on pc technology. The connection between car system and the tool is made via a cable, either directly to the CAN(Controller Area Network) bus via a gateway. The cheapest way is to connect the pc directly to the CAN bus by drip line but this has to be short. According to the CAN standard it should be less than 39 cm at 1 Mbit/s bitrate. Compare with USB and Bluetooth, the mobility and versatility has highly performed Bluetooth.

Bluetooth in car production:

In the car production a lot of software is downloaded as final step in the production line. This is an application where Bluetooth would be ideally suited. Bluetooth base station is connected to the production field bus. When the car on line gets connected to the Bluetooth base station, it uploads it serial number. The production computer then downloads the software for this very car via the field bus to the base station, which in turn transmit it to the car. However, this is a dedicated use and no other Bluetooth units than those installed in the cars should get connected to the cell.

Bluetooth for car service:

A scenario for using Bluetooth could be:
1) When the car enters the service station, its Bluetooth station gets contact with the service stations main computer. This has previously exchanged information with the car computer via the cell phone system.
2) The service station main computer alerts the service man allotted the task and his PC establishes contact with the car and downloads any information needed.
3) The serviceman gets any work instructions needed on his PC. When servicing the car, he can control and adjust several functions via the PC, e.g., any lights, windows, climate control, engine parameters, etc. He can also download the latest software versions to any Electronic Control Unit (ECU)
CAN/Bluetooth basics:

CAN was developed to be a base for a highly reliable communication via a twisted pair of wires that could be applied from very simple tasks to advanced real time control. To achieve this goal, it is based on the principle that every node in a system simultaneously checks each bit transmitted on the bus. By this principle a row of problems like buss access, collision detection, data consistency, etc. are solved in an elegant way. However, the condition that every node should see the same bit at the same time requires a controlled wave propagation time. This is easily achieved in a wired system but hard to achieve in a wireless system. Therefore, any wireless transmissions in CAN systems have to be made via gateways and Bluetooth offers the best possibilities for this task among the available radio standards.

The ideal Bluetooth concept for diagnostics:
The ideal Bluetooth concept for diagnostics should show the following qualities:
1 Low cost
2 Performance as needed
3 Standards as needed

To reach these goals we must have a low cost, high performance Bluetooth unit that can be used for any application. Then it has to be stripped from everything not needed by everyone, i.e., a concept like CAN. CAN provide the basic features needed by any controller network, but remaining features required have to be provided by an additional higher layer protocol. The basic Bluetooth block should take care of the RF part and the essential part of the baseband protocol that is of no or minor interest for any application but essential for the Bluetooth functionality.

Communication during production:

Using wireless communication between the vehicle and the automation system of the production line could open a way to completely new functions in the production process. Depending on the step in the process, for example during final assembly, the vehicle controller and controllers of the production line are able to exchange status information both about the product and the process.

Communication during service:

Potential applications during service can easily be derived from the scenario for the production process described above. Wireless communication between the vehicle and a computer of the service station can be used to exchange status information and service specific information. This step may be supported by a preceding data exchange using telecommunication. Wireless communication in combination with a mobile service computer offers optimum flexibility to the service personnel.

Advantages and Benefit:

The most important advantages of wireless technologies for technical tasks are more or less hidden to the vehicle customer. The benefit of such a solution is the increase in flexibility, modularity and reliability. Although the benefit cannot be experienced directly by customers it is nonetheless important for automotive industry. Additionally the potential of wireless communication on the level of technical tasks between intelligent devices and control units inside the vehicle as well as control units and man machine interfaces in the surrounding area of the car may lead to new functionalities and an increase in flexibility during production and service. The benefit for the customer is an increase in reliability. For the phases of product development the increase in flexibility is a great benefit. A simplified cable harness and wireless interfaces are advantages for manufacturing. For service, maintenance, and repair wireless interfaces are advantageous with respect to disassembly and assembly of parts. Additionally wireless communication opens possibilities for flexible connections to man machine interfaces and diagnostic systems. Although in general an electronic component for a wireless transmission unit is more expensive than a cable, there are several possibilities to reduce product cost, for example by standardization and by reduction of assembly efforts.

Conclusion:

There is a potential of up to hundreds of million per year Bluetooth nodes within the vehicle manufacturer market if Bluetooth can be used for real time control and other technical tasks. For several years a major trend in vehicle development has been the increasing number of electrical and electronic systems. Many of these systems have been introduced to offer innovations to the customer by an increase in functionality, comfort, and safety. Another reason is the partial replacement of mechanical components by electrical components or their integration into mechatronic systems.

References
1) Bluetooth in Automotive Applications
Lars-Berno Fredriksson, KVASER AB
2) The Potential of Bluetooth in Automotive Applications
Horst Wunderlich and Martin Schwab, DaimlerChrysler R&T, Germany Lars-Berno Fredriksson, Kvaser AB, Sweden
3) Optimizing Bluetooth Wireless Technology
as the Ideal Interface for Car Diagnostics -Lars-Berno Fredriksson, Kvaser AB, Sweden

If you are fond of cars and have an eye for appreciating its body then you should consider getting into the auto body repair business which is turning to be a rapid growing industry ever since the invention of cars.

Being an auto body repair technician means that you are responsible for fixing the body of automobiles such as getting rid of dents, straightening bent parts in the car and replacing those that are beyond repair – some technicians also get to refinish car bodies and sometimes replace even the glass components of the body.

An auto body repair technician can work alone or on a team wherein the most experienced technicians can supervise apprentices. You can work for automobile dealers, private companies, collision centers and on your own.

It is not hard to start a career in the auto repair industry. A person with a high school diploma can easily get a job as an auto body repair technician but he or she will be required to undergo some specialized training. If you are interested in working on newer vehicles then you will have to go through advanced training.

Aspiring auto body repair technicians should pursue classes in chemistry, mathematics, physics, computers and electronics in order to be the best in the field. There are technical and trade schools that can provide training for auto body repair which would take about six months to two years. It would depend on the school and the type of training that you would want to pursue. You should take note that you are required to have 3 to 4 years of on the job training before you can be fully qualified to handle every aspect of auto body repair. The more areas you are able to cover – the more pay you can get.

The learning does not stop once you are able to get a certificate. Throughout the entire career you will be expected to keep up with the latest trends in the automobile industry and you will be required to study and take advanced courses in order to be able to keep up with the newest vehicle technologies and techniques in the field.

It seems in every magazine I look in I am seeing more and more ads for pit bikes. For those of you that don’t know, pit bikes are smaller versions of larger dirt bikes. Pit bikes have gained a lot of popularity in the past few years. There are many reasons for this, so let’s discuss a few.

Back in the day no one but little kids rode mini bikes. It all started when some pro riders began bringing these little dirt bikes into the pits to get around between races. Hence the name, pit bikes. Well pros love to compete so they started tricking out their little bikes and racing around.

It didn’t take long to catch on with other people as they started riding pit bikes also. Pit bikes are cheaper, and in many cases more fun to ride than larger dirt bikes. When you get older like me you don’t want to try 100 foot jumps anymore. It really starts to hurt when you crash. When you ride a pit bike the size of everything changes and makes riding quite a bit less dangerous.

Now I have fun riding pit bikes with my friends and racing around. We do smaller tabletop jumps and small double jumps. When I crash I am going at a much lower speed and doing a much smaller jump. I can also do many more tricks on my pit bike because it is so light and easy to ride.

Pit bikes are cheaper and easier to fix than full size dirt bikes. I recently bought a Thumpstar pit bike for $1600 and this thing came all ready to ride. It came with an upgraded suspension, and a great motor. Most pit bikes look really cool too.

When pit bikes first hit the scene many of them were junk, which gave them a reputation as being unreliable. Well now they have come a long way and are much more reliable. It is also becoming easier to find parts for pit bikes online. In the old days when your pit bike broke you were out of luck, but now things have changed. Pit bikes have become a big industry. Because of this they are naturally improving, and getting better all the time.

I love riding pit bikes with my friends and just goofing off. Now that you can buy a cheap reliable bike I would highly recommend getting one. They are great for the kids and the whole family. So check out some pit bikes and have fun riding this summer!

Do you know everything that an auto body shop can do for your car? Most people think of these establishments after an automobile accident, when damage to the car needs to be repaired, but there are many more services that they offer.

Painting cars is one of the most common tasks an auto body shop will undertake. While vehicles that have been in accidents usually need to be painted, the service center will also paint vehicles for other reasons. Sometimes the vehicle’s owner is looking for a new color, and other times they are looking to customize the car with stripes, flames, or other decorations. Computerized paint mixing systems allow repair centers to carefully match a customer’s desired color, allowing the company to do small touch ups that perfectly match the vehicle’s existing paint.

Most companies have detailing services as well, which help restore a car’s finish and brighten up its look, both inside and out. If you are getting ready to sell your vehicle, consider having it detailed. This will help it to truly shine as people come to look at it.

Dent repair is another task that these repair centers will handle. Small dings and dents greatly diminish the look of an otherwise nice vehicle. Most centers can quickly and easily mend these without the need to paint, restoring the vehicle to its like-new look. Similarly, repairing small paint scratches also falls in the list of tasks performed by a repair center.

Frame mending is also a service offered by an auto body shop. Vehicles that have been in a crash, even a minor one, usually need some form of frame or bumper restoration. Sometimes older vehicles need patch up just from the normal wear and tear of driving. In addition, some locations will offer wheel alignment after repairing the frame of the vehicle. Not only does this ensure that the automobile looks good, but it also ensures that it drives well, provided it had no damage to the internal parts.

An auto body shop can also help those interested in restoring classic cars to show-worthy condition. All of the services these locations offer apply in this situation. Usually classic cars need to be repainted, and detailing is essential to get them in good condition. Often the frame is in need of repair as well, and almost every older car out there has a few dents and scratches needing a fix.

The next time you look at your vehicle and bemoan the fact that it has a few dents and scratches, consider taking it to an auto body shop. For a small financial investment, you can have your car looking like new again.

Current Scenario: The auto industry, especially in the United States, is in a downward spiral alright, and no one has a clue what’s in store for this industry. The same trend is noticeable in other parts of the world, including Japan. With the biggest names in the auto world like General Motors, yes GM, and Toyota bleeding non-stop, it is anyone’s guess how long these venerables of the auto industry can hold out against the market elements.

Time for Bargains: For the consumers though, especially those on the lookout for a good deal, many bargains are to be had for the asking! This may be the best time to strike the iron i.e. buy a Car! And there is any number of financing options available to bring that dream car of yours into the garage!

The Islamic Option: In this article, we shall take a look at the Islamic financing option for purchasing a car. Financing for purchase of cars under Islamic Banking is done under the contract of ‘Murabaha’. Simply speaking, this is a cost plus profit mark up contract.

Typically, the Islamic Bank or financial institution would have certain criteria to evaluate your creditworthiness and eligibility for a car loan, having regard to your income either from salary, or business i.e. your occupation, and other sources; your monthly expenditures, statutory payments etc, and finally your net income.

Now, suppose after going through the above process, the Bank gives you the good news-that you are indeed eligible for a car loan of USD 25,000.00 that you had asked for, to buy your dream machine. The next step would be to work out the profit mark up of the Bank on the loan amount. Suppose this works out to USD 5,000.00. That means the total cost of this deal, for you, is USD 30,000.00. Of course, the Bank would have factored its profit mark up while calculating your eligibility amount for the car loan. The other variation in the above case would be that the cost of the car is USD 20,000.00 and the profit mark up USD 5,000.00 or less as the case may be.

Apart from the above, other details to be worked out include:
Down Payment: Some Banks would require you to make a down payment for the car-that would increase your stake in your dream car, as well as bring down the amount/number of installments payable by you. Repayment: The loan amount, plus the profit mark up, put together, would be divided into equal number of installments, agreed upon, say, 60 or 72 as the case may be, and you would be required to repay the same within the stipulated time. Some Banks offer a moratorium on repayment, that is, they allow you to start repayments after, say, two or three months after disbursing the loan. Some other Banks also offer to rework the installments after a part of the loan is repaid. Say you have repaid 12 installments. The Bank then works out a new EMI on the balance of the loan amount remaining after payment of the 12 installments. Upon full repayment of the loan, your car becomes really yours! Add-Ons: In the increasingly competitive environment that the Banking industry is functioning, it is not unusual to get a few add-ons with your car loan – zero balance account, free/concessional insurance for the car, free advisory services in respect of the car loan, as well as other services on offer by the Bank, etc. Do avail of the freebies! The Delivery!: Assuming that you have already identified your baby, that is your dream car, and the place that you wish to buy at, it is now the turn of the Bank to buy the car from the dealer on your behalf, and have it delivered to you! Go on and Enjoy your Drive! Of course, there are no free lunches. Please do your due diligence before deciding to take a loan. And don’t forget that seal belt! HAPPY DRIVING!