Continental at CES: From biometry to swarm intelligence
Access systems tomorrow will do more than just lock and unlock the vehicle, believes Continental. The supplier has combined its keyless entry and start system PASE with biometric elements – perhaps a reaction to numerous cases of vehicle theft that have been possible through a conceptual flaw in earlier systems (not only from this vendor). Besides requesting the key to be inside the vehicle, the new systems are equipped with a finger print sensor; before the driver can start the engine, he now must deliver a finger print to the system. But the fingerprint sensor is not the only biometric system Continental hopes to implant into future vehicles: At the CES, the company also plans to demo a camera-based face recognition feature that can be used to personalize vehicle settings like seat and mirror position, music selection, air con settings and preferred navigation routes. Through wireless links – Bluetooth LE or Low Frequency – the biometrics can be integrated into any smart system in the car.
More and more applications that used to reside in the head unit are increasingly moved over to the cloud, where they are processed before being displayed on a powerful browser. This ensures that the system is always up-to-date and that new functions can be added at any time. To take this trend into account (and actually to support it), Continental has developed a “cloud terminal” that provides the logical link between cloud and vehicle. It uses HTML5 technology to display the cloud applications. This does not only enable platform-independent development of applications, but also allows data to be displayed on different displays with different resolutions. As a result, vehicle manufacturers can roll out thei applications across different models and vehicle classes.
The cloud terminal also can analyze the driver’s habits and use these data to automatically set the entertainment program to play the driver’s favorite music category or radio station as a function of daytime and day of the week.
Another exhibit is Continental’ smart glass which enables the selective and incremental shading of car windows at the touch of a button. The company will showcase an improved version of its smart glass which has been enhanced through additional features: It can be integrated into the vehicle’s electronic control systems including the keyless entry system, enabling it to adjust to different situations and drivers – for instance, the window tinting can be adjusted to the respective driver’s preferences.
Apparently Continental’s acquisition of Lidar expert ASC bears first fruits: At CES, the company shows a high-resolution 3D Flash Lidar (HFL) vehicle surroundings sensor that enables real-time 3D vehicle surroundings monitoring and does not contain any mechanical components. The HFL expands Continental’s portfolio of vehicle surroundings sensors for advanced driver assistance systems to support highly and fully automated driving in combination with other sensors.
The eHorizon is already a proven solution for four-wheelers. Continantal now shows a version for motorbikes. It interconnects riders, offers a shared platform to motorcyclist communities, and allows them to share important route information. With this system, Continental is using the concept of swarm intelligence, which continuously supplies the digital map in the backend with accurate and up-to-date information. The stored data is collated in the cloud and made available to all motorcyclists. This ensures that riders are informed in advance of obstacles along their route such as road works, accidents, oil or water on the road, or traffic jams, which enhances safety not only for them but also for all other road users.