Bench Talk

Reducing the attack surface of autonomous driving hardware and software is an integral part of a safety development process and a particular challenge for developers.

Few other human-machine interfaces (HMIs) present as many challenges as the modern automobile, so have pity on the weary auto industry designer tasked with trying to come to grips with telematics. It’s only rival in complexity is the commercial airliner, whose flight deck remains chock full of knobs, dials, and switches even after wholesale changes that migrated functions to large touch screen displays like those in the Airbus 380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner. At least pilots are highly trained, technically astute professionals, however, while drivers range from being technology haters to “enthusiasts” who like to tweak engine control modules for higher performance. Designing an interface that is usable by such a spectrum of drivers has got to be insanely difficult.

A new generation of driverless vehicles is dramatically changing the way automotive systems are designed and built. These driverless car systems will have significantly increased communication capability, linking vehicles together on the road and back to the cloud. All of this will be controlled by high end processors with complex 3D mapping and control algorithms, and all of this needs to be made secure.

Light Emitting Diode (LED) illumination is everywhere now. Though a slow start due to cost, LED lighting[0] is less costly now, ever so more versatile, and is scaling up rapidly in applications for homes, businesses, signage, and automotive applications, for starters.

It is becoming difficult to tell the difference between automobiles and living rooms. For decades, sound systems improved. Tube radios were the beginning. Eight-tracks, cassette decks, CD players, iPod docks. Depending on options, car sound systems begin to rival then surpass what many drivers had in their homes. Then, entertainment electronics moved way beyond just playing one's favorite band while cruising across country roads.